The Half Empty Locket
by xxAwesomeLucyxx
Summary: Yuki Harionaki, the step sister of the head of a wealthy family, is starting school at the presitgious Ouran Academy. Kyouya Ootari and Tamaki Suou are asked to show her around. What will the girl with a tragic past do for the Host Club? KyouyaxOC
1. Chapter 1

"Oh, look, it is that new girl, Harionaki Yukimarah," I heard from a small group of girls. They were all wearing a milky yellow dress that made me want to puke. It wasn't half as nice as my dress slacks and blouse. _Had to get forced into that anyway._

_I hope people get over this soon. Being practically royalty is hard enough to cope with, let alone that the whole school will be staring at me. I am so glad that I chose Friday as my first day; it will give me a little break before I face the second. I already have a pounding headache._

I continued to walk steadily to the superintendent's office. My sister's new business associate owned this school, so I, of course, would be getting the star treatment. As I made my way through the huge school (to me it was more like a freaking town) I saw two identical boys talking to each other on the edge of a fountain. My heart ached, and my breath caught sharply in my throat. _Be strong, Yuki. Suki is watching. No worries. _I thought as I held onto the tiny gold locket hanging from my neck, swinging it side to side on its chain. It soothed me, and allowed me to continue.

When I finally arrived to the door of the office, I took a deep breath, smoothed out my hair and knocked politely. "Come in, come in. Oh, Harionaki-san, a pleasure to see you again," Mr. Suou said sweetly. I bowed respectfully, and replied in the most polite way I could think of… "Thank you, Suou-sama. I must say, the pleasure is all mine."

"Please, let me introduce you to my son, Tamaki, and his friend, Ootari Kyouya." He said as two boys my age came out from behind the door. Both wore lavender suits that were probably the guy's uniform. _I wish I could wear that. Maybe I will. I'll see if I can get away with it._

The blonde boy, who I thought was Tamaki, took my hand, kissed it, and said in the most delightful accent "Mon-Sheri, I am honored to be able to meet a woman as splendid as you." I almost slapped him for kissing my hand, but I knew that that would not have been good. Although his words were almost too nice, he seemed to take what he said in all seriousness and authenticity.

He let go of my hand, and Kyouya took it in his stead. He did not kiss it; but held it as if I might break into a million pieces as he bowed over it slightly. Then he said to me "Harionaki-san, I am also honored to meet you. I hope you enjoy Ouran School as much as we do," and let go of my hand. I could tell the happiness in his voice was a practiced sound. Happiness was the farthest thing from his mind. His features also let me catch onto this: he was shadowy and cynical looking, though he tried to hide it. He was the most… darkly… handsome man I had ever seen. _I am glad that Mari taught me how to read people. Suki always said that it was my gift, but it just takes practice. I need to watch myself around him. _

The superintendent said some other, nom-important school junk, and told the boys to show me around campus. _My head still friggin' hurts. _I thought as I held back a sneeze.

We started touring the classrooms. Tamaki was obviously excited that I was in his class, and filled me in on all of the teachers and students. Kyouya told me which classes I had, where they were, and what I would be expected of in them. I knew I could handle the curriculum: if Mari said that I could, then I would.

"Suou-san, do you have any clubs around here?" I asked politely. _I am going to die of boredom if they don't have a karate club or something._ The look on Kyouya's face told me that I shouldn't have asked.

"Here at Ouran Academy, we have established a unique club in which women who have time are indulged by handsome men of their choosing, who also have time to do so. I am the president of this club, and Kyouya is the vice," he said very dramatically. "Our goal at the Host club is to bring fortune to the ladies."

_WOW, that's a shocker. I mean Tamaki seems like he would definitely be in that club. Seriously, I have never seen a more overly romantic dude in my entire life. On the other hand, I would think that Kyouya would be more worried about his studies, just by the way that he continues to write things down. Like he is doing homework while touring me around._

I said in a dryer tone then necessary, "Well, I can't exactly join a club for men. Is there a martial arts club here?"

Kyouya replied after flipping through a book, "I am not sure that we have such a club for women, but we should ask Hunny-senpai." _Hunny-senpai? That sounds so cute! Nevertheless, it also sounds so familiar._

I followed them down some more halls, up more stairs, and through the third music room's door. _Damn, they have enough money here for three music rooms here!_

When I walked in after the two dudes, I saw the same two twins from before, clinging to each other. I could feel my heart being crushed as I looked at them. Turning away, I saw a girl in boys' clothes walking up to a little kid and a very tall guy sitting at a table with a plate of cakes and tea. _That kid looks freaking familiar._

The twins spoke to us first, singing in unison "My lord, Kyouya-senpai, who is the girl?" _My Lord?_ _The girl? Oh, thanks. Makes me feel right at home. Ugh, I feel a little light-headed._

Tamaki gave them a sound whack in the back of the head and screamed "THIS IS MY NEW YEAR MATE! YOU WILL TREAT HER KINDLY, AND WITH THE RESPECT WE SHOW ANY LADY AT THE HOST CLUB!"

Kyouya just made a note in his journal and said almost scornfully "She is Yukimarah Harionaki, and has just transferred here from a commoner school. I believe it was the school Haruhi would have been going to this year."

The girl walked up to me and asked, "Would you like some coffee or sweets?"

I said yes, and she handed me a cup of coffee. I said, startled. "Wow, I thought I would never see instant coffee again. Such a welcoming sight, Haruhi-chan."

Everyone stiffened the second I said chan, and Tamaki came up to me saying quickly while rubbing the back of his head, "Oh, um, Yukimarah-san, I know that my Japanese isn't half as good as my French: but shouldn't Haruhi most likely get 'kun' attached to his name instead of 'chan'? Never mind. I forgot that Hunny-senpai uses chan for people all the time. Sorry."

I apologized to Haruhi profusely anyway, but still thought to myself while sipping the coffee. _That is definitely a girl. A freaking blind man could see that._

The little boy skipped up to me with surprising grace and speed, the whole time carrying a pink bunny. The tall man strode up behind him, and stood back at a respectful distance. The boy jumped up and down and said "Hello, Yukimarah-chan! Want some cake? Or do you want to play with my bunny? Oh, I am Mitsukuni, but everyone calls me Hunny!" _Could this boy be a senior, because the only reason that he would have senpai added to his name was if he was older? THE NAME STILL SOUNDS FAMILIAR! Wait a minute… no, that can't be right..._

"I am fine, thank you for offering Hunny-senpai." I said. However, when Hunny got huge tears in his eyes, I picked him up, threw him in the air, caught him, rubbed my cheek on his head, and set him in a chair. "But it couldn't hurt to try just one." I squeaked, unable to resist this cute little kid. Everyone in the room just stared at me as if I had gone up and kissed Godzilla. Then it clicked at how stupid a move I had just made, if what I had assumed this boy's identity was correct. He motioned for me to sit down beside him and asked if I would like some chocolate or strawberry cake. When I said strawberry, he asked the tall boy "Takashi, could you get me and Yukimarah-chan some more strawberry cake. I can't reach it at the top of the refrigerator." "Hai. My name is Morinozuka Takashi, Harionaki-san, but people call me Mori."

Those two boys were practically inseparable, just by the way that Hunny stared at Mori adoringly, and Mori did everything the kid asked. I felt a presence beside me, and heard at my left ear "Wow, you are a brave girl, throwing Hunny-senpai like that." At my right ear, I heard a similar voice say, "Yeah, he could have torn off your head, and fed it to his bunny."

The twins stepped out in front of me and said, "I am Kaoru, and this is my brother Hikaru. But we won't hold it against you if you get us mixed up." I looked intently at their faces, and asked them "Can you say your own name, and your brother's, please in your normal voice, and look at me while smiling and frowning?" They looked at me as if I was nuts, but did it anyway. I took notice of the differences between them. Kaoru's voice was higher, and his smile, though identical to Hikaru's if you hadn't had a twin, was slightly nicer than Hikaru's. Hikaru's frown also tended to go a little sideways. I stuck that information into my head, and said, "I don't think that even the prodigy of the Haninozuka Family would try and kill me just for throwing him in the air and hugging him for a second or two. Besides, we are cousins." People gasped when they saw that I knew that Hunny could have killed me in a heartbeat. Then Mori came back with the cake, and I said thank you. I turned to Hunny and said "Hunny-senpai, I apologize deeply for my improper behavior. Might I beg for forgiveness?" I sneezed.

"Bless you. Its okay, Yukimarah-chan. You can do that whenever you want. I don't really mind. As long as you will come and play with me every once in a while." He said, giving me a pleading look through a mouthful of cake. I just pulled out a handkerchief, wiped his mouth, and replied, "Of course I will, senpai. Who in their right mind wouldn't want to play with you? Oh, by the way, I came to see if women are allowed in the martial arts clubs around here. Would you know?"

Mori-senpai answered me (because Hunny had a mouthful of cake again) by saying, "I have never known of any of the girls around here having the desire to join any of those clubs. But I am sure that if they were allowed to by their parents, and had the capabilities, they would certainly be allowed to participate."

I heard a loud gasp from Hikaru, as Kaoru fainted. Kaoru shrieked in mid faint… "That is the most I have ever heard Mori-senpai say in an entire month. It is a sign of the apocalypse!" Hikaru replied just as loud "NO, BROTHER! Don't leave me here alone! I need you!" At that, I held back a choking sob and dragged the dramatic brothers onto their feet.

"Kaoru," I said sternly, "Don't make Mori-senpai feel silly by saying such things. Maybe he doesn't talk because your snide comments keep popping out whenever he says something. I wouldn't blame him in the least. And Hikaru, stop egging on your brother's stupid fainting spells. Being so overdramatic is sickening."

I stood up a little too fast and bowed shakily to the two sitting at the table. "Thank you very much for the delicious cake. It was a pleasure meeting you, Hunny-senpai, Mori-senpai."

I then turned to Haruhi, and said to everyone, "May I borrow HIM for a second?" When they said yes, I pulled Haruhi out into another room and she asked "What is it, Yukimarah-senpai?"

"No matter how slow some of the other people in this school are, I know that you are a girl. You might as well get over the fact right now," I said quietly. "If there were more commoners here, as there should be, someone else with common sense would have noticed by now. I won't tell anyone; don't worry."

Haruhi just looked at me for a second and replied, "The only people who know that I am a girl are the host club members and you, at this point. A few other people might have guessed, but not that I know of."

She then pulled me inside, and I repeated the same thing more politely, which pretty much included taking out the 'more commoners' part.

Kyouya then looked up from his notes and said "Harionaki-san, would you like me to continue your tour, or let you hang around with the host club for a while?" By the way he said it, so sweetly, I knew that he was faking again. The look everyone gave him kind of gave it away too.

"Ootari-sama and the rest of you guys, there is no need to call me Harionaki anything, or Yukimarah-san. Yuki is fine with me. And I would love to hang out with you for a little longer, if you wouldn't mind." I coughed a tiny bit.

Tamaki chose to come in then. "Of course, Yuki, we would be delighted if you stayed. And I will only comply to your wishes if you only call me Tamaki."

Kyouya added "The same is in my case, Yuki-san. You don't have to use my surname." _Obviously, I won't be able to get Mr. Perfect to call me just Yuki. Oh well._

As I hung out with Haruhi, talking about our hometown, the rest of the boys excused themselves and went into the other room.

~With the boys~

Tamaki: Isn't she just beautiful?

Hunny: Yeah, but she is also kind of… wise…

Mori: Hai

Tamaki: Before Haruhi had even spoken, Yuki knew she was a girl.

Kyouya: And, from how they act, they haven't crossed paths with each other, even though they come from the same town.

Hikaru: And she told us apart on her first try, when she pulled us apart. She didn't even have any time to look hard or anything.

Kaoru: She also knew that Hunny-senpai was dangerous, but she still threw him and hugged him.

Tamaki: Yeah, Hunny, why did you let her do that?

Hunny: She is my cousin, and a sweet girl. Yuki might not remember me, but I remember meeting her before. And she wouldn't have dropped me.

Both Twins: What about us? We tried throwing you, and you almost killed us.

Mori: You two would have dropped Mitsukuni. On accident or on purpose, it doesn't matter. You are too reckless.

Tamaki: What makes you think that she wouldn't have dropped you?

Hunny: She is obviously stronger than everyone here but Takashi and I, physically at least. Yuki has trained under my older cousin, Kuronosuke. She also made Takashi speak a lot. (Glare from said person) What do you know about her, Kyouya?

Kyouya: She was a commoner, but the successor of the Harionaki family fell in love with her older sister. Both parents are deceased, from an armed robbery. Only living blood relative is her older sister, Mari. She has been training in the Harionaki dojo since she was 5, under the supervision of the successor, Kuronosuke. Her sister came to the dojo one day, where Yuki-san introduced them, so that's how that happened. They had been engaged for 2 years, and only just got married last month. Now that she has legitimate ties to the family, she has connections with the entire clan.

Tamaki: That still doesn't explain how she saw through Haruhi, made Mori speak, and saw the difference between the Twins. (Another glare and grumble from Mori)

Hunny: Maybe she is just that kind of person: insightful.

Kyouya: It says here that last fall, right before the date of the wedding, Yuki's twin sister, Suki, was killed in a car accident while both of them were in the vehicle. They were identical, and shared a bond similar to Hikaru and Kaoru's. Word is out that she is not completely mentally stable.

Hikaru: That is why she freaked out when you fainted, Kaoru.

Kaoru: And when you said something about not leaving you there alone. She has experienced true loneliness. No wonder she might not be all there upstairs.

Both Twins: I don't know how she survived. We wouldn't be able to live without each other. (Both feeling very guilty about their actions.)

Mori: That is how she could tell you apart: someone who had and identical twin would learn how to find the slight differences.

Hunny: But there is something else, Takashi. She made you talk a lot. You are talking a lot now, even though she is not in the room.

Tamaki: Yeah, the only other people I know who can make you speak so much is Hunny-senpai and Haruhi. Oh, never-mind, we should return before they get suspicious. One more question though, Kyouya.

Kyouya: What?

Tamaki: Why do you have so much personal information on this new girl?

Kyouya: All of our families all have close connections with her new brother in laws family. The Harionaki is a side branch of the Haninozuka and Morinozuka Families, and train more women than the main branches. They also built a hospital completely run by my family on their estate. Then for the Suou, they have an estate in Paris, by Tamaki's home, and the successor used to go to school here. The Twin's mother designed his new wife's wedding dress.

Twins: So being friends with her has merits for you.

Kyouya: Obviously. What other reason would I be showing her around?

~With the girls~

I couldn't help listening in after I heard Hunny talk about how he remembered meeting me before. _Definitely not mentally stable, hehehehe. _ I was listening to their conversation through the door, because I had said a something that made Haruhi remember something important that she had to do right away. The thought of the accident made me sweat, and I felt a little dizzy. A few tears fell, but I couldn't hide them, no matter how hard I tried. My grip on the locket was iron clad.

When I heard them come in, I knew that they would have to be blind not to notice the tears falling down my face. So as they walked in, I sneezed three or four times, and blew my nose, and told them where Haruhi was.

Tamaki rushed forward and said urgently "Fair Yuki, are you okay? Are you sick?" he asked while touching my forehead and checking my pulse. "Kyouya, come here with the first aid kit, I'll call a doctor! I think she is running a fever."

"Oh, no, I just have an allergy, that's all. Occasionally I sneeze so hard that my eyes water. There is absolutely no need for a doctor." I replied frantically, pushing him away before he tried any other diagnostic methods that he had seen on TV.

Kyouya still came forward, but without the first aid kit. He offered his hand, which I took (because my knees were still wobbly), and helped me to my feet. "But, still, just to be safe, Yuki-san, let me escort you to your car. Common allergies usually do not affect temperature. It would not be smart at all to let you catch a cold, now would it? Especially when it could have been prevented."

I nodded, because I really did want to leave, but wished Tamaki had offered instead. In truth, at this point, I wanted to beat the holy Hell out of Kyouya. _Just because I have issues, doesn't mean he has to shout it to the world. _In addition, I knew that idiot couldn't have taken me, even though I did feel a little sick, now that they mentioned it.

"Aw, Yuki-chan, I hope you feel better." Hunny said. I bent down to give him a hug. Instead of the quick one I wanted, Hunny gripped me hard and whispered, "I know you were listening, and so does Takashi. I apologize for butting into your personal life, and I know that most everyone else does too." _I noticed that most in there. _"I do not blame you, Mitsukuni." To cover up the long hug, he said really loud to Mori-senpai, "TAKASHI! She is running a fever, and her pulse accelerated. Maybe you should carry her?"

"NO…no, I am fine. There is nothing to worry about. Really." I almost screamed.

Mori, obviously taking the hint, just stood there, and bowed slightly when I said goodbye. Just like with Hunny, I couldn't resist jumping up (about a foot thank you) and gave him a nugee. I landed a little a little unsteady though. _Take advantage of when he is bowing, Yuki. If not, you won't ever be able to jump 2 feet At least not the way you are feeling today. _The Twins came up to me and said in unison "We hope you come whenever you want. Here is our cell phone numbers. Call us anytime!" I blushed slightly, but took the slips of paper. I then gave them a copy of my number, and turned to Tamaki.

"What the twins said is true. You are welcome here anytime: as our guest, or just our friend. I hope you enjoy your time at our school, and I will see you tomorrow," he said in a more serious voice than I had heard him before. Kyouya opened the door and let me out as I waved to them again. Then he closed the door, and said, his voice dripping with Hunny "Please follow me..." But he was interrupted by a scream of 'FUCK' followed by 'I can't believe she..' and was then cut off by 'QUIET.' That little bit made me giggle, but I wished that Hunny had kept the fact that I had heard to himself. _If wishes were pies, I would be bigger than Kyouya's freaking notebook._

We continued to walk in silence, but I was deep in thought. _Is that really all that I am to him: a pawn to gain merits for himself? That is why he always seemed to fake; because he is. The voice and attitude I heard through the door was cruel and cunning. It is his true nature, and I can do nothing but take it, or avoid him. However, that will be very hard, just because I have almost all of my classes with him. And I can tell that he is at the Host Club frequently, and I won't ruin my relationship with the rest of them out of my… disliking of him._ The angry thoughts and logic made my head spin. I snapped out of it when the Ootari touched my arm, and leaned down an inch into my face. "Yuki-san, are you okay? Your car is here to bring you home." I almost fell flat on my butt when I saw how close this person was to me, and how much I still wanted to knock him out. Luckily, I took control of my anger and said "Thank you, Kyouya-sama. I will see you tomorrow then?"

"Of course: I wouldn't miss it for the world." He replied, this time making an effort to sound a little more sincere. _Stupid liar. _ At that moment, everything began to get fuzzy around the edges as my knees buckled from underneath me. Kyouya grabbed me by my waist. "Are you okay?" he asked, and this time, his concern sounded real. "I think I should get… home…." He eased my limp body into the car with more care than I would have thought. _Probably so I would be in his debt. Figures._

As Stefan's car hurriedly pulled away, the last thing I saw was Kyouya writing in that infernal journal, look in my direction, and adjusting his glasses. Then I passed out.


	2. Chapter 2

_Whoa, where the Hell am I? What the Hell happened? Why is it so FRIGGIN' HOT in here?_

I awoke surrounded by a sea of blankets and pillows. My personal maid, Suzette, was sitting by my huge bed, crocheting a blanket. _Probably to add to this wonderful collection._

"Suzette." I tried to say, but it came out a hoarse croak. She passed me a glass of icy mint water. I guzzled it down faster than a camel.

"How long have I been out?" I asked again.

"Only 8 hours. Tonight you got a full nights rest for once, Lady Yuki. It is around 9 am right now. Would you like some breakfast?"

I nodded, and when my scrambled eggs and bacon came, I scarfed it down even faster than the water. Not too smart, if you ask me.

Suzette came back to take my dish and said "Lady Yuki. I must apologize. I forgot to tell you that a couple of boys from your new school called to see how you were."

"Who were they?" I asked, a little dumbfounded.

"Two numbers called your cell phone. I'm sorry for answering, but they wouldn't stop. They said to tell you that it was the twins calling." Her voice was a little uneasy when she said twins. She continued " Then Mitsukuni Haninozuka and Takashi Morinozuka called afterwards directly to your honorable brother. Tamaki Suou and Kyouya Ootari called on the home phone, as well as Haruhi Fujioka." She walked out of the room.

_Wow,_ I thought after she had left, _I didn't think that everyone would really call. Maybe Hunny and Mori, because they are technically my third cousins or something._ I then took a little swim to the edge of my little personal ocean, and touched down on the icy granite floor. My knees shook, but held me up. _Yeah!_

I went to the bathroom, and got dressed in my workout outfit for my morning exercise routine. I then did 50 pushups, 50 sit-ups, straddle stretch and the flamingo, with a few more loosening exercises. It took me longer than usual to do all this, just because my body still felt weak after that fainting spell. It ends up that I had been suffering from some sort of flu, and I hadn't really noticed any differences because I had been getting colds and migraines frequently now. The fainting was just from overworking my body when it was trying to conserve energy to fight the bug. All this I found out from a doctor's note from my personal physician. _I hate that dude so much. I can't just have a freaking normal looking guy. He had to be so hot. And he did my physical therapy after I broke my leg last year. Ugh._

I then headed out from the balcony and onto the back porch where I walked out the steps and into the garden. Sitting by the pond had always been relaxing, and Doc had recommended it. Well, let's say that he told my Sensei (brother in law now) that I needed to relax, so it was now a part of my daily training. Meditation. So I sat for a while, filing through the day's events for yesterday and the ones for today so far.

1) Went to school.

2) Met some new people…Tamaki, Hunny, Takashi, Haruhi, Kaoru, Hikaru, and KYOUYA!

3) Got p. (this means pissed-off where I come from) at Kyouya for… Knowing so much about my personal life, sharing it with others, and not even caring about anything but merits for him.

4) Passed out, practically in Kyouya's arms.

5) Woke up today.

6) Ate

7) Exercised.

8) Meditated.

_Okay, that killed all of about 10 seconds. _So I just let my mind wander for about 10 minutes, and watched the clouds go by. Then I got up, and did a couple laps around the pond, just to get my blood pumping again. When I remembered how mad I was at Kyouya, I ran to the punching bags and beat the crap out of them.

Since Sensei wasn't at home today, I just finished that, and cleaned my room. The maids were allowed to clean my bathroom, do my laundry, and change my sheets, but I wouldn't let them clean up my stuff. It was mine, and no one was allowed to touch it but me. But since I had cleaned it the day before, there wasn't that much to do. Therefore, I just watched TV like any other 17 year old, and took a shower a couple hours early. Simple, huh?

The day continued like that, and so did Sunday. Monday morning, I woke up refreshed and ready to go. _Idiot. You said the same thing the morning that you passed out. Will you ever learn?__ Nope. __Sorry I asked. I know me as well as I do. ^_^_

I finished getting dressed in the nasty uniform. I decided to wear the girl's dress, even though I hated it with a passion. _You are a freak enough as it is. Don't push your luck. Some kids who have no connection to the family could just trash can me if I came to school in the dude's uniform. _Even though I was doing that, I continued to wear jeans under it, and a tank top. And some wicked Vans. No one could see them under my mellow-yellow dress. Then I put my black hair into its normal low on the neck pony tail. I only ever take it out when I am showering, brushing my hair, or sleeping. Never during the day had anyone but Mari, my parents, and Suki ever seen it down. At Sis's wedding I had it the same way, but in a bun.

Suzette came up a few minutes later with some; you guessed it, Crepes Suzette. It was my favorite breakfast, because it had the yumminess of pancakes, but was covered in orange stuff and whipped cream. _Once I turn 18, I can try it with the flaming brandy. Mmm…_ I finished up and lounged around for a while.

Today was my first official day of classes. When I had gone on Friday, it was just for a tour. So I got my jet-black backpack ready, with its individual binders for each subject. I was kind of a neat freak like that. Well, at least Suki was, and since she was gone, I was trying to be a combination of our twiness. If that is a word. In a way, I was keeping her alive by being like her. At the thought of her, I grabbed the locket at swung it back and forth. When I realized that I had to get down to the garage to catch my car, I ran down the stairs at a hundred mph. And almost killed myself in the process. _Genius._ I stuffed the lunch Suzette passed to me in my pack, and headed for Stefan's car. He greeted me as he usually did: "Good Morning Miss Yuki." "Hi, Stephan." I replied. "Excited about your new school?" He asked. I nodded in reply. Most of the servants around here liked me a lot, and treated me like a normal human being. _Figures, you aren't normal in the least.__ Shut-up. __Never. _

When we arrived at the school, I saw Tamaki and Kyouya waiting for me diligently. Tamaki was holding a beautiful red rose covered in dew, examining it like it was a precious gem. _He is definitely way too easy to please. Weird Romantic. _ Kyouya had a briefcase in his hand by his side, and was holding onto that elbow with the other hand. _Bet that stupid journal of his in there too. But why does he have to look so good? Damn. All the dudes at the host club are so freaking hot! And I'm related to two of them. Why, God? Why torture me like this?_

When Stephan pulled into park and wished me a good day at school, Tamaki rushed forward and opened to door. He offered his hand to me, which I took, and he helped me out of the car. When he pulled me close, I stood still as stone as he offered me the rose. "My Dear Yuki, this rose is not nearly as beautiful as you are this fine morning. Kyouya told us how you fainted, and we tried to contact you, but you were not awake. A Miss Suzette told me she would tell you we called as soon as you woke up. She and I had a wonderful conversation about Paris." Tamaki still held me right by his chest, but I had regained enough composure to be able to slip away.

"Thank you for your concern. Suzette told me as soon as I woke up on Saturday, and I apologize for not calling sooner, but I was busy." I lied right through my teeth. To cover it, I held the rose up to the light, and admired it much as Tamaki had done himself. The rose truly was exquisite. Its petals weren't in full bloom, but it wasn't a little bud. I felt the thorns and thought of the cliché emo phrase: "If life is so great, why do roses have thorns?" _Because without the thorns as a hindrance, no one would be able to resist the temptation of plucking it. Or you could look at it as you should enjoy the fact that thorns have roses._

Kyouya came from behind us and said, "If we want to get to class early enough to square everything away for Miss Yuki, we might want to leave now." It ended up that I had all of the classes that they had, so I just followed them around all day. I somehow always got snatched into a conversation with Tamaki and some other girls. When they saw that he was showing me around with Kyouya, they gave me piercing glares that I could feel through the back of my head. During a break between classes in Trigonometry, they wanted to mess with my hair and put it into a braid.

"Aw, your hair is so soft, Yuki-san." They all cooed, stroking my hair like I was a cat. "Can't you let us braid it, it would look so nice." At that, I looked around desperately for an empty seat. _There, by the window!_ I thought, and lunged at it before some other person got there. I turned to see who I was sitting beside and saw that it was Kyouya.

_Damn! Well, I can't just stay away from him if he is a part of my new group of friends, is in all of my classes, and is guiding me around the whole school. He might be an egotistical jerk, but I might as well get used to him. And I can't blame him for trying to get to know his family's business associates, now can I? Even if he knows too much…_

When I actually looked at him, I saw that he was wearing the first genuine smile I had seen from him. It wasn't so sweet that it could charm the birds from their nests. More like a cynical, sideways smirk that a rat would wear when she was about to eat her young.

"You don't like getting your hair messed with, now do you?" he said in the most annoying tone.

"I'd rather be chopped up and fed to feral mountain lions." I replied, exasperated as I turned to see Tamaki looking at me funny and the girls giggling their faces off. _Hey, they could giggle it off, with all the makeup they are wearing. _

I heard a slight chuckle from Kyouya. He covered it with his hand and tried to turn it into a cough.

"Oh, you think that is funny? I want to see how you react when a bunch of girls come up and ask if they can screw with your hair, pretty boy." I said to him, leaning in closer to his face.

"Hey, it's different. I am a guy, and you don't do that to a guy. But you are a girl, and lots of normal girls have little make over parties. I would know; I have a sister." He retorted. The look on his face told me he wished he didn't know that little tidbit of information.

I snapped back "That junk is for girly-girls who have nothing better to do. Besides, I am not what you call normal, anyway."

"Then why are you wearing a dress, Miss Yuki? You could wear the guy's uniform if you really wanted to."

"I am wearing normal clothes under all this, Genius." I showed him by lightly pulling up the bottom of the dress to show my shoes and jeans. "Besides, I don't want any more attention about the uniforms than I already have with being me. So get over yourself, Mr. Know-it-all." I whispered as class began.

By that time, Tamaki had escaped his fan club and came to sit behind me.

He said quickly into my ear "I don't see why you think it is so bad, Yuki. You look quite splendid in that dress and you pull it off very well. Ask the twins, they would know. Why didn't you let the girl's play with your hair?"

"Because," I drawled, "It is degrading. Moreover, I don't like people messing with my hair. So you can stop touching it, Tamaki. You couldn't do anything secretive even if your life depended on it."

He pulled away from me very quickly, with a guilty cough. I heard another faint snigger from Kyouya, and class continued.

At lunch, we saw that everyone from the host club had saved all three of us a seat. I sat sandwiched between the twins, facing Haruhi.

"How has your first day of classes gone?" Haruhi asked.

"Eh, so-so." I replied as I pulled out my lunch. It was a simple little sub-sandwich, with turkey, lettuce, mayonnaise, and cheese with a hostess cupcake and a Dr. Pepper. I wasn't jealous at all of the big fancy meals surrounding me: I like it simple and good. My manners weren't first-class either, but I just dug into my sammy.

Lunch continued on with normal conversation: although conversation can hardly be that when it seemed like Kyouya wrote down every word you said. _God damn it, what is he writing in that confounded thing?_

After classes ended, my two-year mates rushed me up the stairs to the third music room and told me to wait. When they said I could come in, I opened the door, and rose petals flew out in a spiral. Then I heard a chorus of "welcomes" as the boys and Haruhi showed up in my line of sight. They were dressed up as characters from Aladdin.

Tamaki: Aladdin

Kyouya: Genie (without the blue skin)

Takashi: Head Guard Guy

Hunny: The Tiger

Haruhi: Jasmine

Twins: Bandits

I laughed my head off at the sight of Haruhi as Jasmine, and Tamaki as Aladdin. _Tamaki, you think I can't see that you like Haruhi? I wonder who set up the costumes for that. _ _Hint, hint, wink, wink._ Kyouya wrote down my first reaction of their little scene as he asked, "So, what are you laughing at?"

"Nothing, nothing… I just didn't know that you guys dressed up for this." I said, still trying to get through my bouts of laughter.

Hunny jumped me from behind, and as he hung from my neck, he said, "Yuki-chan, do I look like a tiger to you?"

"You want my honest opinion?" I asked, and he nodded. "Well, you look more like a cat, Hunny. I think you need stripes."

Tamaki came up to me eagerly and requested eyes big as saucers, "Do you know any way to fix this, Yuki?"

I pondered over it for a minute and said while pulling the boy off me, "Get me some white, orange, and black face paint, and I'll have all the lady tigers crawling all over him."

As Tamaki ran off to get what I requested, I walked up to Haruhi.

"Haruhi, you look exactly like Jasmine. I like the idea of having one girl in the group, but don't the girls get a little… worried when they have someone dressed up like a girl serving them?" I asked, bothered about what I might get for an answer.

Kyouya answered for her… "You might think that. However, in reality, many girls around here like a more sensitive man who is able to laugh at himself enough that he won't mind if he is in a girl's costume. And frankly, some like more feminine men."

I trembled a bit at the thought, but shook it off as I looked at Kyouya. He didn't look like a genie at all. _His costume needs something more mystical. _To Tamaki, who was still in a back room, I screamed "TAMAKI! Get me some blue-silver powder glitter while you are at it."

Before he came back, I ran into a back room and shed my dress. _So glad that I wore stuff under this. Makes my job a whole lot easier. _Then I grabbed a hair clip and clipped the ponytail to my head.

As I came back into the room, everyone looked at me a little odd, but the twins were muttering something about "we can save her yet."

I then plopped out on the couch and said. "Yuki's face paint salon, open for business." Hunny ran up to me and stood right in front of me. I began working on his face, making his eyelids white, and giving him orange and black stripes. I even gave him some whiskers. When I was finished, he looked like an actual tiger.

He jumped up and down after finding a mirror and hugged me. I didn't go rigid like I had with Tamaki, just because he was so cute and small that he reminded me of a 5 year old. Nevertheless, I knew he definitely didn't have the strength of one when he helped me climb to my feet.

Then I motioned for Kyouya to come forward. He glared at me and asked haughtily "What do you want me for?"

"You can't have the Genie without his blue face. At least let me give you a little blue glitter, so you look a little like one. If we made you all blue, your customers might be scared away." Kyouya just shook his head, and stood his ground. I reached up with the glitter, but he pulled back.

He didn't suspect I would pick him up, throw him on a couch, and sit on him. Kyouya gasped for air and struggled until I sat on him even harder. When he did stop, I removed his glasses and put them on top of my head. Then I sprinkled some glitter on my palm and gently blew it on his face, and swirled some on his face's sharper edges, making sure to accentuate his cheekbones. The whole time he was staring at me with his night-black eyes. It was perfect. But those coal-black eyes drilled holes right into my soul with the way he was looking into mine.

I stood up, and as he gasped for air I mumbled "I can't be that heavy. Maybe I have to lose weight? Or he is just a big fat wimp. Yeah, I'll just stick with that. Saves me the trouble of giving up snacks."

By the time I had finished mumbling,Kyouya had came back from the bathroom and walked up to me. I thought he was going to slap me or something by the look on his face, but he grabbed at my hair instead.

"OH NO YOU DIDN'T JUST TOUCH MY HAIR, PRETTY BOY!" I yelled, about to lunge at his sorry-ass and gouge out those eyes.

"YUKI! Calm down. I just want my glasses back." He screamed as Tamaki and Mori tried to hold me back. _Kyouya just addressed me by my first name. There's a first time for everything._

"Oh" was all I could say. I had completely forgotten about his glasses on my head.

" 'Oh,' is right Yuki. You just about killed the guy 3 times there." The twins said in unison as I passed Kyouya the glasses.

"How do you figure that?" I asked, oblivious to what I had done.

"One: you almost suffocated him when you slammed him into the couch and sat on him before he could catch his breath." Hikaru said.

"Two: you almost took off his head when the poor guy tried to get his glasses back."

"What's the 3rd one?" Haruhi asked, curious.

"He almost passed out when he realized that a pretty girl like you was straddled on his chest, touching his face." They sang out, once again in perfect unison. I blushed a thousand shades of red when I realized what I had just done to him. _I just sat on the most annoying guy in the world and did his face glitter. _I grabbed the locket and held it nervously.

This time, before I could get over my little moment, Kyouya beat me to the punch: literally. "Stupid idiots." He muttered through his teeth. When he turned around to walk away, I noticed that I hadn't gotten the back of his neck.

"Hey, Kyouya! Wait a second." I said.

He turned around, bewildered and said, "What?"

"Whoa, calm down dude. I got some glitter on the back of your neck. Sorry about sitting on you and almost killing you for trying to take back your glasses."

"Oh, right. It is no problem at all Yuki-san. Thanks." He was tripped up by my apology. _Damn, I thought I got him out of the habit of adding san since he didn't say it when he yelled my name. Oh well. _

Tamaki practically had a light bulb over his head when he said, "I have the most brilliant idea ever! Let's see how Mori-senpai looks when he has a scar on his face. Yuki-chan, can you do it?"

"Sure," I replied, eager to get away from Kyouya after that weird moment, "I'd love to. But I need some red face paint and a tissue."

The twins snapped to attention as Tamaki snapped his fingers. "Hai." They said, and ran off to get some more face paint, and Hunny went to get the tissues.

Mori-senpai sat straight down on the couch as I drew a jagged scar from the top of his left eye down to the right side of his chin. This time I didn't sit on the guy, and just stood by the couch instead. Then I smeared it a bit, to make it look older, and he was finished.

The Twins already had scars and junk, so they didn't need anything but thick black eyeliner to accent their eyes.

I went into the bathroom to see Haruhi adding the final additions to her make-up. When she heard me sigh with relief, she turned and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Oh, I'm just glad you can do your own make-up. I can do a clown, tiger, or any other funny or scary face, but I can't do normal make-up to save my life." I said, waiting for her reaction.

"I am surprised, Yuki. I really can't believe that. You can do all of this other stuff, but can't do simple things like this?" I shook my head. Then she turned away before she could say what she was about to because Tamaki had knocked on the door and said "Ladies, sorry to interrupt your alone time, but we need Haruhi out here so we can let our guests in."

She excused herself as I pulled my dress back on over my clothes, and took out the hair clip.

Walking out into the main room, I saw a stream of girls rush through the door and split up immediately into groups.

Tamaki: 8/20 of them

Kyouya: 3/20

Twins: 3/20

Mori and Hunny: 2/20

Haruhi: 4/20

I saw that most went to Tamaki, and surprisingly Haruhi had the second highest amount of people. _Kyouya was right. They do like Haruhi._ Tamaki was serenading each girl, making them feel like princesses. Kyouya was playing on the 'I am a Genie, and I am here to grant you three wishes' junk. To tell you the truth, he did it pretty well. Haruhi was just sitting there as the four girls around her bombarded her with questions, mostly ones about how 'he' always seemed to get the girl's costumes. Mori was just standing there, being imposing as Hunny lapped up his milk from a dish and crammed food into his mouth. Then, Mori would suddenly lean down and wipe Hunny's lips. The girls would "eek" so loud. Then the twins were entertaining their guests with random outbursts of 'brotherly love.' _Eew, incest. Gross. I am glad Suki and I didn't go around doing junk like that._

Standing unnoticed in the corner, I watched as each guy entertained the girls. I decided to be helpful and fixed up some tea. Then I motioned for the Twins to come so I wouldn't have to be noticed by all of the other boy-crazy girls.

"Take the tea guys. I have to go. I will be late for my lessons, and Sensei will be furious." I murmured to them.

"We will only take it from you if you promise to come around again tomorrow." Kaoru said.

Hikaru said for them "Yeah, we might need you to do the make-up again. We think that Kyouya might…" but didn't finish as I glared at him.

Then, just to make my day, they yelled to everyone "HEY GUYS! Yuki has to go now." I barely kept from hitting them as everyone turned to stare. _I know where you guys go to school. I'll put itch powder in your costumes and poison in your lunch. Payback is sooo sweet, isn't it? _

Takashi bowed his head to me, but it meant just as much as Hunny's hug. Haruhi waved goodbye, because more people had come in and she was too overwhelmed to move. The Twin's just gave me an evil smirk, and Kyouya ignored me completely: adjusting his glasses that totally ruined the genie effect. Tamaki stood up and escorted me to the door. Which was only about ten feet, but what the hay? Who cares anymore?


	3. Chapter 3

A couple of days later, after school in the host club, Kaoru said to me "We heard about how you hate having your hair done. You didn't seem like that kind of girl."

"Yeah," Hikaru told me "We thought you might not like it, but not enough that you would sit by Kyouya instead. Do you not like wearing dresses, or is it just about the hair?"

I replied after a moments thought. "I don't like dresses at all or getting my hair done. But I think I would rather get stuck in a dress than have my hair all fancy." I was kinda worried at how Kyouya would react, but he ignored the part about him.

"Well, you don't like wearing dresses enough to not wear something under it." Kyouya said quietly.

Everyone gasped at what he said, and the Twins burst out laughing.

"AHAHAHAHA! Maybe we were wrong bro." Kaoru said between bouts of hysterical laughter.

"Yeah, if he knows what she is wearing under the dress, they might be 'friendlier' than…" And I silenced Hikaru with a kick in the face.

"As Hikaru plainly saw, I am wearing jeans and Vans under this, you perverts. I may be friendly, but I am not easy, as you so kindly implied." I said darkly over them as Kaoru leaned down to help his brother.

Hunny, quiet until this point said "Yuki that was a wonderful kick. Your balance was very good, even though you are in a dress and jeans." I bowed at the compliment as Mori-senpai "hai-ed"

Haruhi said after him "I think that might have been a little harsh, but Hikaru did deserve it for that dirty thought."

"They usually don't get such a good opportunity to nail Kyouya with something like that. Kyouya, I think you are slipping." Tamaki said, and I was surprised that he didn't try and defend my honor or something like that. _Maybe he realized that I could defend myself._

Hikaru and Kaoru chose that moment to pounce on me. "DOG PILE!" They both screamed. In contact with the twins in such a manner, I hit the floor and stiffened like a board. Everyone in the room froze as I stayed stock still, not even moving to touch my bleeding skull. Kaoru and Hikaru were just looking up from me to each other.

Mori-senpai was the first person to react. He ran towards me, reached down, and hauled me to my feet as if I was a rag doll. Then all the people in the room at once rushed up toward saying, "Are you all right?" But I was completely out of it. Then I passed out.

(Outside point of view, after bringing Yuki to the nurse. Haruhi stayed with her.)

The Twins: What the hell just happened?

Kyouya: You just smashed Yuki's head into the ground.

Hunny: You're lucky that it was the clip that made her head bleed, not the floor.

Mori: Hai

Tamaki: What made you guys think that you could do that to a lady?

Kaoru: By the way that Hunny and Mori make her out to be, we thought that she would dodge.

Hikaru: Yeah, and if she hadn't, we didn't know she would go all stiff and not even try to break her fall.

Hunny: Well I did think she would have dodged. You two did give her more than enough time to.

Tamaki: What I wonder is why she went so stiff. Every time one of us have tried to hug her, except Haruhi and Hunny, she goes all stiff like that. Its kind of weird.

Twins: Maybe she just doesn't like being touched. Or she has a crush on Hunny.

Takashi: Not everyone is inclined to incest like you two.

Kyouya: Hm…

(Back at the Nurse)

Haruhi: Are you all right, Yuki-senpai?

Yuki: Fine, fine. What happened?

Nurse: You hit your head on the ground, and your hair clip shattered, making a shard of it graze your skull. I don't think you have a concussion though. Stay here as long as you like. (Nurse leaves)

Haruhi: Why did you stiffen up like that?

Yuki: I don't like being touched very much.

Haruhi: But Hunny and I have given you a hug, and you didn't do that.

Yuki: That's different. You are a girl, and Hunny is just so small and cute.

Haruhi: (strange look on face) Are you abused at home? You can tell me, it's nothing to be ashamed of.

Yuki: WHAT?! No, of course I am not. I can incapacitate or kill a person 18 ways with my bare hands. Do you really think I would allow something like that to happen to me?

Haruhi: A lot of strong women are over powered by men all the time. I have just never seen a reaction like that from anyone before. You only stiffen up when one of the mature looking guys touch you.

Yuki: It's nothing, really. Just something that I do… I am going home, it's late.


	4. Chapter 4

~Kyouya's POV~

The school year was going by so fast; much faster than it ever had. Summer changed to autumn, and the leaves fell to the ground in a halo of reds and golds. Usually I would have never noticed stuff like that. The changing of the seasons wasn't important when it was stacked up against me trying to win my family's company. But the addition of Harionaki Yukimarah added new perspective to the Host Club.

Yuki didn't come to the club every day like the rest of us, but when she was there, the room was filled with new joy and energy. Excitement seemed to radiate off of her. Things were never calm when she was around. Just the simple task of getting some tea turned into an insult or reminded her of some former argument that 'needed to be settled.' The next second she would be quiet as can be, just looking out the window as Tamaki played on the piano.

Tamaki didn't seem to really mind her mood swings and the torrential aftermaths that often accompanied them. He just rode the waves of her fury and sadness like a surfer. I didn't seem to fair too well. She would start a stupid quarrel about nothing in particular, which usually ended up being pretty funny. Then all of a sudden a look of sadness would cross her face and she would apologize profusely, turning to look out one of the many windows in the school.

As time passed, it became less frequent. But when the storms would hit, it would hit hard. Like once, the Twins were chasing her around the room with a hair brush and a pair of scissors. "Hey, we just want to take out your hair tie, Yuki!" the one with the scissors said. "Yeah. You'll look great if we brush it out afterwards." The other one said. She continued to run around the vast rooms, weaving in and out of obstacles with ease. "You'll never catch me alive, coppers!"

With a hop and a skip, she jumped onto one of the couches stepped off of Mori's shoulders onto the top of a column in the room. "Quick, lets get her!" the twins cried and tried to scramble up the six foot five tall Mori to get to her. He easily swatted them away. Yuki remained curled around the top of the column, which, luckily for her, had a little landing on the top before it touched to roof. With the satisfied smile of a cat, she stuck out her tongue and formed a gun with her thumb and forefinger, shooting at the two. "Pewww peww, pew pew pew! I win!" Then she looked down the pole, and saw she was 9 feet up in the air. "Uhh, guys…How do I get down?" Yuki asked, gazing at the drop.

I couldn't help but laugh my head off as she began to panic. And when Yuki panics, she has a very good way of showing it. "Damn you to fucking hell Kyouya! Get me down before I beat your ass with a two by four with rusty nails sticking out of it. Then I'll sit and laugh as you die a slow and painful death. And just for the fun of it, I'll save your life so I can go and do it all over again." This just made me laugh more, since she attempted to get down to go through with the threat, but she turned green at the thought, slithering back up.

"Yuki, just jump down, we'll catch you." The twins said in unison, still holding the scissors and brush. Yuki yelled another stream of obscenities before Mori walked up and stuck out his arms to catch her. Of course, she didn't go for what was planned. Instead, she wrinkled her brow in concentration and jumped down, stepping off of Mori's shoulders and landing on me with a heavy thump. The breath was knocked right out of me on impact, so my cries of ouch were unvoiced. I saw that Yuki was about to start laughing while sitting on me, but turned to look down at me instead.

Her black eyes shone with a midnight blue tinge as she looked at me. A look of shock and sadness went across her features at the same time, and she hurriedly got to her feet. "I'm so sorry…" she trailed off as she helped me to my feet. I was still trying to catch my breath, so I couldn't say "I kind of deserved that one. No problem, don't worry about it."

Yuki stood there awkwardly, swinging the ever present locket back and forth on its chain. She had been here for a few months, and not once had I seen her without it around her tan neck. Usually I didn't notice it until she did was she was doing now. It was a tell tale sign of emotion that you normally didn't get a chance to see across her face. In this case, guilt and embarrassment.

After having to strenuously say that I was fine that that there was nothing to forgive, the swinging slowed. But instead of coming out into the main room where Tamaki, Hunny and Haruhi were waiting, she stayed in the more largely windowed room. Taking up a window seat, she stared out into the distance. I didn't really know what to do. _The whole reason she is like this is because of me. And there isn't really anything I can do about it without making it worse. So I might as well just leave her be._

When she came back out about ten minutes later, she had completely let go of the locket and the sad look on her face was gone. The only thing that you could see that showed she was in any kind of distress a few minutes earlier was the looks she kept shooting at me every once in a while. Other than that, she was fine. But I was still wondering about her when I got home. _What makes her do stuff like that? She doesn't like being touched and seems to think she is doing something wrong all the time. What is wrong?_


	5. Chapter 5

I woke up to a cell-phone ringing in my ear. _Eh, its Tamaki's ring. What the hell does he want at 5 in the freaking morning? It's the first day of spring break, damn it._ When I answered the phone, I heard Tamaki screaming "Haruhi is gone! She won't pick up the home phone. I have been trying to contact her for days. Call the SWAT Team, the army, the navy!"

"Slow down, Tamaki, you just woke me up, and my brain doesn't work this early. What is wrong?" I said into the phone, not catching a word of what he had just said.

"Haruhi is missing!" he cried.

"Sure she is, you numb-nuts. She is on her vacation, and is spending it somewhere in the mountains. Did you try her cell?" _I bet she turned it off; I should have done that._

"What cell phone? Haruhi doesn't have something like a cell phone! She would have given me her number, you idiot!" He said, totally impatient with me.

I muttered evilly into the cell phone, "You woke me up, on the one day I gave myself to sleep in all spring break, and you dare yell at me!? Let's get one thing straight; you act like that again, and I'll fucking kill you. Try that one more time."

After a very loud gulp from the other line… "Yuki-chan, by any chance would you know of Haruhi's cell phone number?"

_^_^ Very good._ " It's 427-844-2426. Why didn't you just call the Twins or Kyouya? They would have known."

All I heard was 'damn' and the phone hung up.

_Fucking Tamaki ruined my only fucking sleep in day. I might as well get fucking dressed since I won't be able to get back to sleep after all that shit. _ I rambled on as I got into my favorite pair of Dockers and a red shirt that had a sweet looking dragon crawling up the side. _I may not be able to sleep in, but I can still be comfortable_. I thought as I slipped into some flip-flops. I was in the middle of brushing my teeth when I heard my cell phone ring. _Damn._

This time, it was Kaoru. "Hey Yuki, we need you to get enough stuff packed to stay up in the mountains for 3 days. You don't have to bring your own towels. I have that covered."

I shrieked into the phone "What the hell are you talking about? I am not going anywhere. This is my relaxation time at home alone to get some meditation and training done."

"Ah, that's too bad. We were heading up to Karuizawa for a while to relax in the serene mountain air. Kyouya had already gotten it all set up with Mari and your brother. Hey Hikaru, Yuki isn't coming. Forget about the special lavender and vanilla bubble bath soap."

I was now totally engrossed in the idea of staying up in the mountains now. _Relax in the refreshingly crisp air. And a bubble bath after a hard day of training. EEK!_

"Okay; you win. When do you need me and where?" I asked, already starting to pack some stuff into my humongous suitcase.

It was Hikaru this time on the phone "Outside your front door in 10 minutes."

"WHAT!" I screamed flipped the phone off. I stuffed in enough clothes from my newly renovated spring wardrobe for a week, just in case. Most of it was jeans, cargo pants, and ¾ length shirts, just because it would still be pretty cold up in the mountains. But I still stuffed some tank-tops in. _I am so glad that I have a rich family now. All the cool clothes I want, right at my fingertips. _Then I went and got all of my toiletries in my little black bag and laid out a blanket, a few pillows, my training clothes and other gear. Finally, I crammed most of that stuff into a separate duffle bag, grabbed some cash, and ran full tilt down the stairs, almost forgetting my purse that had my Ipod and all the other rubbish I need on a daily basis.

By the time I was outside, Hunny and Mori were waiting in their car. I threw my two bags into the back, but almost didn't have room as I saw that Hunny and Mori must have had three bags each. _Worse than girls I tell ya._

I hopped into the backseat, and was greeted by Hunny, who gave me a big hug. Mori just nodded his head in acknowledgment.

"So guys, how did you get sucked into all of this?"

"I wanted to go see how Haruhi was doing. How about you?" Hunny said. I didn't even need to know that Mori just went because Hunny did.

"The Twins wove a wonderful scene of me training in peace and quiet, probably with silver tongues. Oh, and a promise of lavender-vanilla bubble bath stuff." I replied.

Hunny gave me a weird look, so I defended myself. "What, I am a girl. I do like bubble baths, and their mom is the only one who can find my favorite lavender-vanilla soap. I like to use it after training. A long soak really helps. So stop staring at me like that."

"Sorry, but you went from training to a bubble bath. Kind of caught me off guard right there. We will be at the airport in half an hour, and the ride takes about 2 hours. I hope you brought something to do."

Me and Hunny switched Ipods and I browsed through his song list. He listened to pop and techno: mostly stuff that I had never really heard of before. Mori's list mostly had stuff like calming bird sounds and junk like that. But I saw one song I recognized; Inside the Fire, by Disturbed. My play list consists of mostly alternative or rock, so they weren't really interested in that. By the time I was done browsing through their stuff, we had made it to the airport.

The car drove directly through, right up to a jumbo helicopter. Inside it was Tamaki, Kyouya and the Twins. All four of them had their Ipods in under those huge headset things that we had to wear. I got sandwiched in between the guys I rode over with, but didn't really notice as I fell asleep right after take off. When I woke up an hour later, Hunny was dead asleep on my lap. _Aw, he looks so cute when he is sleeping._ I saw that his bunny had fallen to the floor, so I leaned over gently and wrapped his little hands around it. _Those hands could take out an entire freaking army._ I didn't see that Kyouya had noticed my little act of kindness and noted it in his note book.

When we finally made it, I jumped out of the chopper with pure joy. _YES! I'll go say hi to Haruhi, unpack my stuff…Wait a sec… _"Hey Kyouya," I called to the guy who was stretching his arms after the short flight before we jumped into a car; one with me, Tamaki and him. "Where are we staying?"

"I made sure that you got a room in the place that Haruhi is working at, but after that, there is only one other room," he whispered in my ear, because Tamaki had taken the front seat. "But don't tell the others. This might get interesting."

"I don't really care as long as I can go beat the crap out of a tree or something. How long will it take to get there?" At what I had said, he looked out the window and replied nonchalantly "About ten minutes."

When he pulled out his black Ipod from his jeans pocket, I stole it from his hands. At that, he grabbed mine from me, and I looked through his songs. We both had the exact same stuff. He even had one of my favorite bands of all time; Three Days Grace. Except he was missing something…

"Where are your I Am Ghost songs?" I asked. "Everything else is here, but you don't have I Am Ghost. I am really surprised at how much taste you have, to be honest. I thought you would be into classical."

He was unable to not comment about my thought of him being musically challenged. "That would be Tamaki. I haven't heard of them. Where is it on yours?"

I stole mine back and clicked on Shower Songs. "Hey, I like to listen to music in the shower, okay!" I said when he gave me an identical copy of Hunny's confused look. "All of my favorite stuff is on this list anyway. Do you have a problem with it?"

He just shook his head as the music started. (Pretty People Never Lie/Vampires Never Really Die) Kyouya definitely didn't seem to be enjoying it at all.

"This song is kind of slow. Animal I Have Become is a lot better."

Then I remembered that there were two versions of the song: the fast and the slow. The lyrics are about the same, but some phrases change and the tempo is completely off.

So I snatched an ear bud out of his ear and stuck it in mine. It ended up being the slow version. I told him about the difference, and he asked why I kept it on if I didn't like it very much.

"Suki liked this version a lot better." Was all I said. He knew whom I was talking about.

I switched it to the faster version, and silently sang along with it, swaying from side to side. Kyouya seemed to think that was funny, but tried to cover up his reaction. Just to up the anti, on the screams, I pretended to scream into an invisible microphone. He thought that was even funnier, although he just smiled and didn't laugh. _Oh, its on now, boy, _I thought as I pulled out all the stops. _If he doesn't laugh at this, he won't laugh at anything._ So as the slow part came, I did all of the emotional reaches and holding your own heart. Suddenly, it changed and I was fake screaming, doing all of the guitar and drum parts at the same time in mid air.

Kyouya burst out into hysterical laughter. He just started laughing out of the blue, holding his stomach as if he were about to burst, and pointing at me. "YES! I win!" I yelled for real as I shook Tamaki's seat. "Did you see that? Do you hear that? I just got Kyouya to laugh!" But there was no response. I looked at the seat and he wasn't there.

I turned to see where Kyouya was pointing, and it was out the window. All of the guys (excluding Mori) were out there, copying every movement I made. The Twins continued to do the air guitar and singing, while Tamaki shook 'the seat' with a triumphant smile.

_Uh, I didn't make him laugh like I wanted. __You just did! __ I wanted him to do more than just smile or cover up a chuckle. I wanted him to laugh with all his heart; and he did. But it was at me. __Can't get everything you wish for._

So I started to laugh. Not just at the guys outside, but at Kyouya too. He was laughing so hard that tears were crawling down his face, and it was a mirror image of my own. As we calmed down, my stomach began to hurt from all of the laughing. When we finally got out of the car, the guys stopped and turned to look at us.

The look they gave us made me touch my hair, as if some bat thing was caught in it. Then they all (not including Mori of course) yelled and gave me hi fives and pats on the back.

Tamaki must have yelled the loudest "That was hilarious! What song was that?"

I didn't answer as I grabbed my stuff, and sprinted with it to the big building in front of us. The place had a very calming exterior, but the fence was in bad condition. I continued to run until I made it to the door. When I turned around, the guys were only half way down the stretch because they all had 2 suitcases and a duffle bag. _They are worse than girls, I swear._

As they finally made it to the door, I rang the doorbell politely and saw Haruhi open the door. "Good morning, welcome to Misuzu Pension." And then a look of absolute horror fell across her face.

"What are you guys doing here? Can't I have some time to myself anymore?" she practically yelled. At that, I turned to Tamaki and Kyouya, shrieking, "You idiots didn't tell her we were coming? I thought we were invited or something like that. Ugh, you are denser then I thought."

Kaoru and Hikaru jumped onto Haruhi; apologizing for coming but saying they missed her. _Sure you missed her, guys. You were just bored and wanted someone to toy with. Haruhi is the only one who lets you._

Kyouya turned to a woman who had walked up behind Haruhi and said "Madame Misuzu. It is a pleasure to meet you in person." She giggled and said in a very distinctly manly voice "Oh, Ootari-sama, I am so glad that you could make it. How was your flight?"

"It was a lot quicker than I thought it would be, but it was still kind of cramped. I am sure that Yuki-san would like to put away her bags." He hinted to her, and she in turn faced Haruhi. "Dear, might you bring this lovely young lady to the room on the top floor that is empty?" I declined Mori's offer to carry my suitcase.

Haruhi grabbed my arm and tugged me up a couple flights of stairs. On the way I explained to her what had happened that morning. She just nodded, seeming like she had not heard a thing I had said.

When we finally got to the 4th floor, she went down the right hall and the very last room. "Come back down when you are done" she said, obviously in another world. _Probably trying to figure out if she should be pissed or not. Poor girl, she doesn't even know something as simple as that. I would totally be furious._

I unloaded my clothes into the big wardrobe that was fixed directly across from the double bed. The window took up one entire wall, facing the mountain scenery. _I can't wait until I can go and train. Starting today would be really nice. Having a few days of training in a different climate and altitude than usual should be tons of fun._

When I finished, I passed the twins rushing away from the parlor. Haruhi and a boy I thought I recognized were talking to one another. Everyone else was sitting at a different table. I sat next to Tamaki, but he didn't say a word to me, so I turned to Kyouya instead.

"Hey, I have a very distinctive feeling that I missed something important. And who is that guy talking to Haruhi?" I asked.

"It was a boy from her old school that she kind of brushed off without realizing it when he confessed his feelings for her. His name is Arai." He said, all the while writing in his notebook.

I couldn't resist anymore: I blurted out "What the hell do you write in that stupid journal all the time?" He looked at me like I was retarded and replied, "I write things that I think are important to know about each day. Like this; it counts as something that would influence our experience on this trip." _I fucking knew that he wrote all sorts of crap about people in that thing. Let it burn._

Then I remembered the look on Hikaru's face; jealousy and anger. "I am going to go and check on the twins." I said, and took off in their direction. They had ended up right in front of my door, all the way on the 4th floor. Catching my breath behind a corner, I tried to listen in on their conversation, but couldn't hear it.

When Kaoru left, I followed him outside onto one of the public balconies. "What's wrong?" I asked. He jumped a bit but mumbled "Nothing."

"Like hell that is nothing. I know that it must be a twin thing. And I… was a twin, so I know how to handle it."

"Hikaru likes Haruhi, and so do I. But I want my brother to be happy, so I want him to hang out with other people. He won't be around me for the rest of our lives. And he is a lot more antisocial than I am. Hikaru believes that anyone who has become our friend can only be our friend, so he is jealous of Arai-kun. I don't know what to do."

Kaoru was sort of in same position I was in at one point, so I gave him all the advice that I could, all the while swinging my soothing locket back and forth.

"It is going to hurt you a lot to separate from him. He is the other part of your soul. But if you want him to find love in another, you must leave him some space in his heart. And if you really think that letting him go after Haruhi will make you happier than being with Haruhi yourself, then you should do it. But don't make it any harder on him then it is. Let them be alone, and don't follow them around if they go on dates. If he wants you to know about it; then he will tell you himself. If not, then you will just have to take it. I… know how it feels to watch your sibling suffer… and in turn suffer yourself. As the more logical and less overly emotional half, you need to help him subtly; and push things along. But be there for him if all else fails." When I turned to walk away, he grabbed me by the shoulder and asked "Is that how it worked with Suki?"

I hesitated, but told him, "Luckily for us, we had family that gave us a lot of attention and kept Suki and I out of our own little world. But I wanted to get my sister to step out even further. So I started setting her up on some dates with friends. Suki fell in love with this boy, and he could always tell us apart just by looking at our faces or listening to our voices. Derrick hated me with a passion, mainly because of my bond with her. I let them be together because I knew he would rather kill himself than see Suki in pain. And he loved Suki's personality and spirit, not our looks. But Suki started to wander away from me… and turned to him instead. I couldn't help but notice she began to be happier with him then she ever was with me. When we told him that she was gone, he went berserk. He completely cracked, and he doesn't believe what we told him. Every time Derrick sees me… its not a pretty site, lets put it that way. The one thing I know is that he made her happy until the very end and that counts to me the most." At that, I turned and walked into my room. Then I changed into my training clothes and walked back down into the parlor.

By the way everyone was arguing, it seemed like Kyouya's "interesting" plan had gone into effect. The twins, Tamaki, Mori, and Hunny were doing a "refreshing" contest judged by Misuzu to see who would stay in the only room left. Everyone else would stay in their family's town houses in the area.

People went their separate ways, and I walked outside into the forest. I chose a nice little clearing after running for about 10 minutes, and stretched. My muscles protested after the flight, but I managed to get them all working. Then I ran around for a while, and started the pattern dances that I knew. They were a combination of kicks, punches and flips that were done in a particular order to strengthen the mind and body. After that, I meditated, watching the sky and the clouds.

_Time to go back for lunch. _ I thought as I made my way back at around noon.

Kyouya was out on the porch at a white table for two, with a pitcher of lemonade and two cups.

"I knew you said you were going to train, but not for 3 hours straight. Misuzu kicked me out and said that if I wasn't going to be in a refreshing battle, then I should wait for you to show back up. How did pummeling trees go?" He asked, amused, as he poured me some of the icy liquid as I sat down in front of him.

"As well as could be expected, I suppose. A couple of trees out there will be pretty good for firewood once it dries out." And then I guzzled down the huge glass. "The Twins better have brought my soap, or I will have to strangle them personally."

He gave me a puzzled look, and I had to explain to him about the bubble bath soap. "Well, hopefully your bathroom has a bathtub, not just a shower. And try not to blare your shower songs too loud, okay." I stuck my tongue out at him as he smirked. Kyouya noticed that I had drunk the whole pitcher of lemonade, so he went to grab some more. Soon after he left, I heard some stunning piano music coming from one of the windows. When I turned to look, it was Tamaki, completely immersed in playing a huge grand piano. He didn't even seem to realize that all of the guests had gathered around the room to hear the beautiful sounds he produced from his delicate fingers.

Kyouya came back and saw me staring in the window. "I just wanted to give the twins some competition…" And I finished for him "…to make things more interesting. I know, I know. You do realize that this is one cruel joke you are playing on the lovebirds?"

He just grinned evilly, and refilled my cup. I said to him, "This isn't the Host Club. I can pour my own lemonade, you know." I went to grab the pitcher, but he stopped me. "No you can't. Don't you see your hands are shaking like leaves? I just don't want to have to clean up the mess you would make if you dropped the pitcher." "Whatever you say, Shadow King."

We then heard a scream from around the corner. "Wonderful," Misuzu giggled, "Brotherly love is so refreshing. The twins win the competition."

"I think that your little nudge was in vain, Kyouya. It seems like Tamaki played for nothing. But it was so serene. Don't tell him that he can stop. I want to listen, if not just for a little while longer." I actually begged.

"Tamaki will continue to play until he can no longer move his fingers, or he runs out of songs to play. He is that dedicated to his music. You have heard him play, haven't you?" he asked, curious.

"Of course I have. I haven't been here that long, and I don't go to the club every day, but I've still heard him. It is really quite…relaxing. You would never think that the hyperactive Tamaki would actually be able to play something like that. I would come more often but I don't just because I don't want the girls to kill me for hanging out around you guys for free. Everyone else has to pay." I answered.

"Right, I forgot. Haruhi doesn't get any cut out of the profit because she owes us 8 million yen. But everyone else does get paid. Quite a lot actually. We decided that we should pay you to be at the Host Club." He said, this time pouring himself glass.

I just shook my head and said, "I don't need any money. Keep it and save it for a rainy day." He nodded as I drained the last drop of lemonade from my glass. Then my bladder realized I had just drank over a pitcher and a half of lemonade.

"Umm, sorry Kyouya, but I have to go to the bathroom. Will you excuse me for a minute?" And I ran off before he could answer so that I didn't pee my pants.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning, I was woken up by someone knocking on my door. "GO AWAY DAMN IT!" I shrieked and threw one of the pillows at the door.

"Yuki-chan, its just me." Kaoru said meekly. I sighed, walked up to the door and opened it. "What do you want, Kaoru?"

"I took your advise from yesterday," he said, "And I tricked Hikaru into bringing Haruhi out on a date. Well, not a date exactly. I promised Haruhi that I would bring her around town, but then faked that I was sick and made Hikaru go instead."

"And…" I said, surprised that he had taken my advice into action so rapidly. "I wanted to know if you wanted to come with me and the guys to spy on them." He said. I gave him a look, and he added quickly "Just for a little while, to make sure that Hikaru doesn't do something dense."

"Fine," I said, "But don't expect me to be ready in just 10 minutes like yesterday. I do like to be able to clean myself up in the mornings. And I am going to go shopping myself afterwards for souvenirs." Kaoru just nodded and walked away.

I looked out the window and saw the thunder clouds in the distance, headed in our direction. I washed my face and did my teeth. _I hope that it rains today. It will be a lot more fun to train in the mud tomorrow. Now, what should I wear? _I grabbed a pair of blue jeans and one of my favorite shirts. The main part was a purple tube top, but it had sleeves that were made of a sheer cream material. It was one of my favorites, just because it was so damn comfortable. Slightly exposed for my tastes, maybe, but it was nice and cool. I put my hair up with my 2nd favorite clip, which was cream, and slipped my locket over the shirt. All I had to do was put on my favorite black vans, and grab my purse. I walked down the stairs calmly to the table Kyouya and Tamaki were sitting with a pitcher of orange juice.

Tamaki greeted me with more junk, as he poured me a glass. "Kyouya, doesn't Yuki dearest look superb?" I just turned to Kyouya and we both nodded, completely understanding that Tamaki was in one of those moods today. I sat down, and accepted the glass, muttering about how I was perfectly capable of pouring liquids into cups.

Misuzu came out with some oatmeal, which I ate at my own pace. The guys dug into theirs too. Kaoru snuck up behind me when I finished and asked "Are you ready to go guys?" We all nodded, and met Hunny and Mori outside. A van had come to pick us up, and I listened to my Ipod on the way down, looking at Tamaki and Kyouya. Tamaki wore jeans and a white long sleeve shirt that had a little v-neck that kind of made him look like a hippy. Kyouya had on a white shirt and an opened black button up shirt with lots of pockets. His khaki pants had a lot of pockets too. He had the most awesome necklace on; silver teeth looking things between little black beads. The one thing that killed me was that he had on DC's.

Kyouya saw me glaring at his shoes, and saw that I was wearing Vans. I wanted to just smack that look off his face, but I just stuck out my tongue at him. He chuckled, and looked out the window again. When we finally got to town, the driver parked and let us out. Mori, Hunny and Kaoru were sneaking behind a tree already.

When Kaoru finally decided that everything was going well, he turned to us and said "Okay guys, I am going back up. Yuki, I know you wanted to go shopping so here is your chance." Hunny and Mori both decided to go back up to the house. Even though the competition was over, they still wanted to help with the chores. At least Mori did, but Hunny accompanied him.

I turned to Tamaki, who was sitting on the ground behind a tree; sulking. "Hey Tamaki, do you want to go shopping with me? I'll get you some ice cream if you want." The look on his face made me want to kill myself for asking. "Oh, sweet Yuki, your kindness is a flower in full bloom." He nudged me and whispered into my ear, "Why don't you invite Kyouya to come too. I can tell he wants to go, but he won't unless you make him feel that you want him here." I sighed. _He is totally right._ I thought as Kyouya turned to go back to the cars.

"Kyouya Ootari, don't make me come and get you. This is our grade's buddy bonding time, and you are coming with us." I didn't know what to get out of the look he gave me, but he walked back to us. "I don't really see why you think souvenir shopping here is going to be interesting."

I huffed at his arrogant comment. "Well, Mr. Know-it-all, did you know that this shirt I am wearing is from Nagasaki? And this hair clip is from Okinawa? Everywhere I go, I get some clothing article as a souvenir. Besides, now that I saw those two lovebirds eating some ice cream, I want some too."

I dragged both of them up to the ice cream counter. Scanning the flavors, I asked, "What do you guys want? It is my treat for dragging you down here with me, so take your pick." Kyouya wanted some lavender and vanilla, Tamaki took strawberry, and I took spiced orange. All of them were in little cups, with the plastic spoons. I turned to Kyouya and asked "How is the weird flower ice cream? Does it actually taste like flowers? How do flowers taste?"

"Since taste is 75 percent smell, it tastes just like lavender smells. It is …out of the ordinary." Kyouya replied. Tamaki snuck his spoon into Kyouya's ice cream and took a bite. "Yeah, and I can taste the vanilla." Kyouya kind of looked at me funny, and asked "Do you want to try?" I nodded and took a little bit for myself, and offered mine in turn to both of the boys.

"Whoa, this stuff tastes like my lavender and vanilla bubble bath smells. That is freaking awesome! But I still like this orange spice one." I said. Then Tamaki said "Eew, that orange one is gross. It kind of tastes how Kyouya's room smells like." Kyouya took some of mine and said "Yeah, it does. But I don't think that it is gross. I like orange and cloves." I asked Kyouya to explain.

"My mom is a total neat freak. Everything in the house is white, and is doused in bleach all the time. But since I like being able to smell, I have oranges and cloves in my room." _Wow,_ I thought, _I didn't expect him to go for something like oranges._

I pondered aloud "I should try that out. It sounds good. But if you like that so much, why didn't you get that?" He replied simply "You told me that you use a lavender vanilla bubble bath, and I had never heard of that combination. So I wanted to try it out." Tamaki said "Why didn't you just ask her if you could smell her soap? I bet her hair smells like it too." He came up behind me and took a whiff of my dark brown hair. "Yeppers, it does smell like it. It suits you, Yuki-chan."

I was so glad that Kyouya didn't come to smell my hair. It was a total invasion of my private space, but I wasn't so mean as to punch Tamaki or anything. That was just the way he was. We continued to walk down the streets, eating our ice cream and looking at some of the stores. I felt like we were being followed, but dismissed it. Then I saw a store I wanted to go to: a little un-franchised clothes shop for women.

I turned to the boys "You guys can stay out here. I don't really think that you want to come inside with me. If you do, I don't mind." Both just shrugged their shoulders and followed me in. "As long as you don't buy a load of stuff," Kyouya said, "I am not carrying your bags like I have to do for my sister."

I saw a ton of different styles of clothes. _Hmm, I think I want a sweater from here, since it is the mountains._ I looked around for a while and saw this comfortable looking hooded one that came in a bunch of colors. It didn't have any writing, but I didn't really care. I grabbed a red one and a black one and looked at the guys. "Which one do you like better, this or this?"

"I like the red one, Yuki. It is really bright." Tamaki said. Kyouya pointed to one of the racks and said "I actually like that purple and grey one there." I saw the one he was pointing to: it was purple on the body with purple and grey stripes on the sleeves. Where the strings came out of the neck, there was a little grey spiral for each string. I fell in love with it instantly.

"Sweetnums! Thanks Kyouya, I wouldn't have seen it until after I bought one of these. Your sister has taught you good taste in clothes in return for carrying her bags." I picked out my size and bought it. We walked out of the store and continued to walk on the street. We finally made it to the last couple of stores. They were circling this huge empty park, with lots of colorful sakura blossoms. I could tell that Kyouya wanted to go to the bookstore, and Tamaki gazed longingly at a music store right next to it.

I sure as hell wasn't going to ruin their shopping day, and I wanted to look at the trees. "Go ahead guys. You will find me in the park. I will be walking around, but I will come back in ten minutes if you can't find me." They shrugged and walked into the stores.

I strolled into the park, walking past the pink and white blossoms. Smiling to myself, I thought, _what a beautiful day. I wish Suki were here… _And then I felt the arms wrap around my waist. I froze in pure terror, dropping the bag with my sweater. "Oh, Suki, I knew you weren't gone. They were all lying to me. Why didn't you find me?" someone whispered into my ear as they nibbled on it. The man's head knocked my hair clip off as he nuzzled my hair.

_No… it can't be… he can't be here… _ I turned around and saw it was him. Derrick.

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think anything but "no, not him." When he looked me straight in the face, he screamed "Damn it, Yuki. I thought you were Suki. Where is she?" I whispered, "You know she is… gone… Derrick. Just go away…"

He gripped my shoulders till they bruised and said menacingly "No, Yuki. I am not going until you tell me where my beloved is. Tell me, you stupid bitch." "I can't tell you where she is… you know that." I replied, still dumbfounded at his presence.

"You are a horrible person, Yuki. I know she is alive, but no one will tell me where she is. Every where I turn, I see her; in the street, at school, in my room. She wouldn't do this to me unless you told her to. Ever since the accident, you have kept my dear Suki from me. I wish you would just disappear, and let her come back. I wish you were dead. But I won't leave until you tell me where she is." He shook me harder and harder as he went on, and finally, I snapped.

Pushing him away from me, I screeched as it began to rain, "She is fucking dead, Derrick. Her smashed corpse is in a coffin in the dirt, rotting until nothing remains. Are you happy now, Derrick? Do you like my pain? Do you enjoy making my life a living hell? Making it so I can't let anyone near me?! Ruining what's left!? DO YOU?" I grabbed the locket from my neck and threw it in his face. "Here, take what's left of me and smash it into the ground along side my sister... I don't care anymore. My other half is gone, it is all my fault. Just leave me alone!"

Derrick reached out to slap me when a flash of yellow appeared in front of me. I just stood there wrapping my arms around myself, frozen in shock. "What kind of monster does this to a grieving woman?" Tamaki asked as he picked up my locket from the mud, wiping it with his shirt. "No human being could ever put anyone through this kind of misery."

I felt a presence behind me, like a tower hovering over me. It grabbed me and I screamed; kicking, punching and elbowing my attacker with all of my might. "Yuki. It is just me." The rough voice said. I turned and saw that it was Kyouya, drenched from the downpour.

(Kyouya's point of view)

When it seemed like it was going to begin to rain, I walked outside to see Tamaki doing the same. "We should go find Yuki, and get under cover." I nodded, and we walked out into the huge park. Then I heard an inhuman scream; and it went straight through my bones. We ran towards the source and I saw a tall man hovering over a small, fragile looking body. We saw him grab her around the waist, with his face down by her ear. We were almost there when the girl pushed him away, yelled and grabbed something from her neck, flinging it at him as the rain began to fall. "Here, take what's left of me and smash me into the ground along side my sister. I don't care anymore. My other half is gone, and it is all my fault. Just leave me alone!" And I realized who the panicked and distraught voice belonged to; Yuki.

In an instant, Tamaki was in front of the man before he could strike her. I didn't hear a word he said as my blood began to boil. _This man made Yuki emit that horrible scream? _I thought as I saw her standing there, holding her shaking body together before she fell apart. My vision blurred an ugly red. The rain continued to pour down as my mind raced. _This is the angriest I have ever felt before. Just blind fury. My hands are shaking. I want to beat the hell out of that man. But…_

I reached down to grab Yuki's shoulders, and the moment I touched her that scream tore from her throat again. Then she struggled against me, slamming her elbows into my ribs, and kicking me anywhere she could. It hurt a lot; but I let her do it for a moment before I said "Yuki, it is just me." It came out a little hoarse because of the pain. She turned to look at me, but she never met my eyes. Her once lovely face was now shallow and haunted, and the rain ran trails down it. Her hair was down for the first time, but I wish I had never seen it like that. It was wet and limp, clinging to her, making her look worse. She whispered, her voice strangled with pain "It's all my fault. I couldn't save her."

She continued to say it, looking down at the ground. I asked her to look at me, but she didn't. So I gently cupped her face with my hands, and said "Please. Yuki, look at me." She looked me straight in the eyes, and her normally fiery blue-black ones were glazed with pain and unshed tears. "It is not your fault." I whispered. Then I heard her sob my name as she fell into my arms, holding me in a death grip. Her whole body shook as she cried into my chest. Cautiously, I wrapped my arms around her. Unlike what I expected, she didn't stiffen, but went limp. I had to hold her up as she continued to let all of those tears fall that must have been in her heart for months.

When I realized that she was going to get sick in the rain like this, I carried her bridle style under one of the blooming trees. I was completely oblivious of the fact that Tamaki had scared off the man, and had run to find the car. As I sat down and set Yuki beside me on a bench, I still held her in my arms. I gently stroked her hair and whispered over and over "I am here, Yuki. It's going to be okay." Then I laid my head down on hers as she cried into my chest. Unable to resist, I breathed in her scent. _Tamaki was right. Exactly like the lavender-vanilla ice cream, but better._ She fell asleep in my arms, and finally looked peaceful. But she still held onto me like I was her only lifeline.

Finally, Tamaki returned with the car, and put her locket into my hand as he went to find her sweater. I picked her sleeping form up gently and walked to the car, putting her in between Tamaki and me in the backseat. She didn't wake up as we drove back up to the house. I didn't notice that she had wrapped her arms around me again in her slumber. All I did was watch the rain fall from out the window, unconsciously petting her hair.

Tamaki said nothing as we drove up, but everyone was waiting for us when we got there, except for Hikaru and Haruhi. _Maybe they haven't come back yet. _ I thought. Not noticing the look everyone gave me as I brushed passed Mori to carry Yuki myself, I picked her up again and brought her to her room. The whole place smelled like her, even though she had only been there for 24 hours. I laid her out softly on the bed.

Misuzu ushered me out as she changed Yuki into some dry pajamas, and let me back in right when she was done. Yuki continued to sleep the whole time. Misuzu had even brushed out her hair, but didn't put it into the signature ponytail. I sat down in a chair beside her big double bed.

Then I put the locket onto her nightstand, though not before looking at it properly. It was a small and simple white gold locket with a matching chain. Gently, I opened it up to see a tiny picture of two Yuki's on one side, with an older girl and a man behind them. The other side was empty. _Wow. _ I thought, looking at the two Yuki's. _I can actually tell the difference between them. One's smile is a little sweeter, so that one must be Suki. She looks a lot more innocent that her twin. Yuki has that little glint in her eye that she gets when she has a mischievous idea. _ _And that woman behind them must be Mari, with her husband. _Feeling guilty for opening up the little thing, I made sure all of the mud was off it before I put it back down.

_Now I know why she doesn't like guys touching her: that guy practically made out with her before trying to slap her. It was just an instinct to prepare herself for the pain that was about to come. _I thought as I brushed the hair from her face.

_Yuki, the most untrusting girl I have ever met just fell to sleep crying in my arms. The only girl that ever made me truly laugh was in this much pain the whole time I have known her, and I didn't even notice. I will be here for you now, Yuki. I promise. _

(Yuki's Point of View)

It had all seemed like a dream. Derrick showing up and hitting me, Tamaki coming to my rescue. And Kyouya. That was the part that really made it seem like a dream. How he looked into my eyes tenderly, with more emotion than I had ever seen in them before. And how he wrapped his arms around me, letting me cry on his shirt in the rain. It had felt so real, but seemed so surreal. I can still remember the warmth of his strong embrace, and how he smelled of oranges and cloves. The one thing that makes me doubt that it was a dream was the fact I felt safe for the first time in a while when I was in his arms. Nowadays, I never felt safe within the confines of my own mind.

I feel somewhat bad putting him through that. How both of them had to see me in that condition. Stopping the tears once they started was impossible to do. So I had just cried and cried, and the whole time Kyouya was trying to console me. I can't really wrap my head around it. I didn't realize that his voice could be so… comforting.

Then I remember Misuzu coming in my room and changing me after Kyouya carried me up. At that point, I didn't really care. Kyouya came in afterwards, and sat down beside me in a chair. The look on his face when he opened the locket was of surprise and confusion. I wonder why. Right before he left, he mumbled something and brushed the hair back from my face. I had almost shot up and asked him not to leave, but I didn't. I don't think he wanted me to know that he had opened the locket. So I let him go, and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

When I woke up the next morning, I just sat there in bed and contemplated what had happened. At that point, I didn't really care about Derrick; it was just so strange that both Tamaki and Kyouya had come to my rescue. _I didn't realize that I had real friends now._

I didn't want to face Kyouya after the whole incident that night, but there wasn't much I could do about it. So I just did my little morning ritual and got into my training clothes instead of normal ones. _I didn't train at all yesterday. Even if I don't feel too good today, the least I can do is run around for a bit._

When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I saw that everyone was there, all in their own conversations. I went and sat by my boys, who had already poured me a glass of orange juice. _Heh, it's funny that I think of them as mine. _

Tamaki greeted me, same as usual; "Dear Yuki, I am honored to be able to bask in the glory of your beauty this morning." I turned to Kyouya, but he was deep into the book he was reading. _That's pretty normal too._

Haruhi walked up with some scrambled eggs and toast, which I scarfed down like no tomorrow. When I drank my whole glass of orange juice, Kyouya reached out to grab the pitcher, and winced. "Hey, what's wrong, Kyouya?" I asked. "Nothing." He said, but I could tell that breathing was hard for him. _What the hell is wrong with him? It's going to bug me until I find out._

As usual, Hunny and Mori wished me luck on my training, and I walked off into the forest. _You know what; today I actually do feel like beating the crap out of a tree. __Let's do it__._ So I ran around for a while, did my stretches, and commenced beating the shit out of a tree. Then I did some pattern dances, and beat the shit out of another tree. _Sorry trees, but you just picked the wrong grove to grow in._ I decided that I should probably meditate a little too.

I let my mind wander, from the trees, to the clouds, to the birds and all that junk. But every few minutes my mind would picture Kyouya, and the safe feeling I had when his arms were wrapped around me. _Aw, fuck. This isn't going to stop for a while, now is it? __Nope, it won't.__ Ah, shut up._

Then I heard some stomping, and a couple of people talking. I jumped behind a bush, and saw that it was the guys and Haruhi. They all kind of gasped as they saw me jump out of the bush. I just brushed them off and asked "What are you guys doing out here?" Haruhi pulled out a little camera and snapped some pictures of me.

Kaoru said "We wanted to bring you some lunch since you hadn't come back yet…" and Hikaru finished "and we decided that we should have a picnic!" I laughed at how excited they were, and grabbed a basket from Mori. I rummaged through it and asked "Where is some water or something? I am soooo thirsty, because I am too stupid to bring something to drink for myself."

Haruhi threw me a water bottle, and I guzzled it down while the rest of the guys spread out a blanket. _Of course, it was so cheesy: red and white checkered blanket, with real wooden baskets._ Hikaru and Haruhi were sitting next to each other, and Tamaki sat on Haruhi's other side. _Ooh, he must be jealous. _ Mori, Hunny and me came next, with Kaoru by me. Poor Kyouya had to get stuck between the Twins.

Haruhi and I spread out the grub: little sub sandwiches that she had made with Tamaki's help. When she passed me mine, I noticed that it was with turkey, lettuce, and cheese, and mayonnaise. Then I got passed a cold Dr. Pepper and a Hostess Cupcake.

I couldn't take it anymore "How did you guys know that this is my favorite lunch?" Hunny said after shoving a cake into his mouth: "Haven't you noticed that Kyouya writes down everything? He knew that that was what you brought for lunch to school the most often." I grabbed a napkin and wiped Hunny's mouth, looking at Kyouya through the corner of my eye. He reached out to grab a napkin himself, and winced, grabbing at his ribs. _WHAT IS WRONG WITH HIM, DAMN IT! _I told Kyouya "It isn't nice that you know so much about me: so what is your favorite sandwich?" Kyouya had just taken a Hunny-esque bite of sandwich, and I had to wait until he was done chewing. "Tuna and egg salad." He replied, showing me his sandwich. _Okay, I can remember that. _There was a non-stop clicking of a camera throughout the meal.

Once everything was cleaned up, I lay back on the grass, and Tamaki did the same beside me. Haruhi was getting mobbed by the twins, and Mori was helping Hunny up a huge tree. Kyouya had gone to sit in the shade, for once just napping instead of studying or writing in his journal.

Tamaki turned to look at me and asked "Do you remember everything that happened last night?" I nodded. "Are you sure?" he asked again. "Yes, Tamaki, I remember everything."

"Do you remember that Kyouya was the one who comforted you while you were crying and wouldn't let anyone but Misuzu touch you?" he asked, a little more specific. "Yes, Tamaki, I do. And I am really grateful for what you two did for me. Including you standing up for me with Derrick." I said, being very open about the subject.

"I didn't do anything, Yuki. I just talked with the guy. Kyouya was the one who did something special. When you opened up to him, and allowed yourself to trust him, it changed something for Kyouya too. That was the kindest act I have ever seen him do for anyone." He said like he was just stating facts.

I just nodded, since I really could believe that what he said was true.

Tamaki continued, "I was so happy that he met someone who could make him laugh from his heart, not his head. And there is something I want you to know… All of us want you to be truly happy. Including our heartless Shadow King." He stood up to walk away, but I stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Kyouya might be egotistical on the outside, but he is not heartless. I used to think that… but I know better now." I let go, and he walked away.

By the time we got back, it was about 5 o'clock. It ended up that I had woken up at about 10, and trained until 2. Our conversations and 'lunch' had taken until 4:30, and it takes half an hour to walk back to the house. When we did get back, I took a nice long shower, and had my tunes blaring. I got into some pajamas because I didn't want to get back into my filthy training garments, and it was stupid to get into normal clothes when it was about time for bed. Then I wrapped my bruised shoulders up, just because they needed to be as still as possible to heal more quickly.

I was walking down the hall to see the pictures Haruhi had taken and saw Kyouya flinching as he walked. Seizing his arm, I said "That's it. You are going to tell me what is making you flinch so much." He looked quite surprised and asked "Do you remember what you did to me last night?" I thought it over and said "Noooooo... What did I do?"

He replied "Well, when I grabbed you from behind, you got pretty defensive." I said in return "Oh… I don't remember hitting you so hard that you would get hurt. Let me see." Kyouya shook his head so I pulled him into my room and shut the door. "There, now you can show me." He shook his head again, so I mumbled "It is my fault that you are in pain. I want to help…" Then I totally 360ed and growled "So take off your shirt before you make me do it myself. And you know that I will sit on you if I have to."

He sighed and began to unbutton his shirt. I gasped when I saw the line of green, yellow and purple bruises all over his marble white chest, stomach and arms. There was a huge one that was the size of my fist on one rib that looked really painful. Then he pulled up his pant leg and showed me an assortment of bruises on his shins.

_Oh my god. I can't believe I did this to him. Uh, I feel so terrible. I might have cracked a rib there too._ I decided what to do quickly, not even realizing what I asked.

"Sit down on the bed so I can see if I broke anything. One of the Ootari's should know that a broken rib can puncture a lung." I ordered. He did as he was told, and I sat down on the bed beside him. As gently as I could, I poked each rib seeing if they bent under the slight pressure. I was extra careful with the ones under the biggest bruise. He winced every once in a while, but didn't complain. _Ugh, I wish he would complain, because Kyouya being manly and not sarcastic means it hurts like hell._

I went into the bathroom and started the bath water running really hot. He asked, still lying on the bed "What are you doing? Did I crack a rib?" "No, I don't think so," I replied, "But I want you to take a bath."

"I will take one at home." He said stubbornly. "No you won't, pretty boy. I have to wrap you up properly, and your little house won't have the proper medical supplies. It will make you feel better and make me feel less guilty if I help you myself." I countered.

He shrugged and said "If I really need to… then fine." _Yes! No more guilt!_ I added the advised amount of lavender and vanilla soap to the water and stirred it up. "Get in here." I heard him grunt as he stood, and walked into the huge bathroom. "I want you out of the tub in exactly 10 minutes. Make sure all of the bruises are in the water. Get dressed in just your boxers, unless your pant leg can go up to the highest bruise." I didn't feel too awkward asking something like that, since I had been around these people for months. And they had thrown a slumber party themed day at the host club, where most of the guys wore boxers or pj pants. So they weren't very shy. Kyouya nodded and I left. I timed him for exactly ten minutes, and waited outside the door.

When the time was up, I called "Kyouya, get out and get dressed." I heard a splash and he said a little panicked "I, I can't get up! What the hell is in this water?"

"Uh, Genius, do you really think I like that particular bath soap because it makes my skin glow?" I asked.

He replied a little mulishly "I'm not exactly in your head."

"No, it is because that is medicated, and it numbs the body so that if I trained too hard, and got bruised or pull a muscle, I don't have to feel it. And it smells good too. Mrs. Hitachiin is the only one who can find this particular brand in any scent besides original. And that stuff smells nasty."

"I don't really care, but how the hell do I get up?" He asked. "Just because you can't feel your body doesn't mean that you can't move it. Watch your legs as you try to get up. But make sure that you don't fall on the wet floor, or else I will have to call Mori-senpai to come in and help you."

I heard a groan and another splash before he finally got up and dressed in his boxers. "What do I need to do now?" he asked. I pulled out some skin cream and said "My brother in law is really serious about keeping me training, so he got some crazy natural apothecary to make up this stuff for me. It helps make the bruises go away faster, and numbs them up too." He nodded and started to put some on.

"Do you have to be staring at me while I do this? Can't I just go home?" he muttered. "No, I have to make sure that you get all of them. And that is my only bottle of that junk, so I can't have you running off with it." In truth, I was kind of staring. His body was absolutely faultless: his pale white skin made the shadows look more defined, which in turn defined his whole body. Kyouya wasn't so buff that it looked un-natural, but he definitely wasn't fat. And he was proportioned perfectly. The only thing that marred his skin was the bruises. _I can't believe I was curled up against his chest just yesterday… __ Snap out of it woman! __Look at all the bruises you caused on his awesome body!__ Damn, snap out of it._

Kyouya got the ones on his chest and arms fine, but when he had to bend down to get his legs, he got sloppy. He just kind of smeared the lotion on one bruise and moved on to the next one. "Lay down on the bed, Kyouya, you are taking way too long, and you aren't even doing it right." I commanded again. He started to protest but I knocked him onto my feather soft bed. Kyouya put his arms behind his head, and I got to work, humming a little tune along the way.

I had to gently rub in the cream on each bruise so that it was deep enough to work. One by one I went, going in little circles with my fingers. I went as softly as I could. By the time I got to the last one, which was on his foot, he was fast asleep. _Heh, at least I know I wasn't going too hard. _ I put some gauze on the bigger bruises on his legs and arms and wrapped them in bandages. I didn't really want to wake him up so I could do his torso, so I didn't.

He looked so peaceful, and it pained me to think that I had caused him any damage. Each discoloration was a reminder of what a bad person I was. _Doing this was supposed to make me feel better, not worse. _ I remembered that he had just taken a bath, and he was just in his boxers lying on my bed. _He'll wake up soon, or the guys will come up and get him._ So I grabbed the blankets and pulled it over top of him, savoring one last look at his flawless muscles. _FUCK! Stop thinking like that, Damn it!_

I went into the bathroom and cleaned up after his mess. At least he had folded his clothes. I wiped down the counters and cleaned out the tub, so it was ready for its next use. When I finished, the guys still hadn't turned up to get him, and he was still fast asleep. My body was about to be overcome with exhaustion, but I couldn't bring myself to wake up the poor guy. As I turned to sit down in the chair, I saw that he had put his glasses back on after his bath. Quietly, I pulled them off his head and put them on the nightstand where he had put my locket. Not realizing what I did, I bent down and lightly brushed my lips against his forehead, taking a deep breath. I whispered aloud "Thanks, Kyo-kun. A lot." I sat down on the chair and I slapped myself quietly and muttered "You probably would have thrown a fit if you saw me do that, wouldn't you pretty-boy? Mmm… I like orange and cloves though." I fell asleep in the chair, waiting for the guys.

I didn't see him blush or hear him mumble "Your welcome, Yuki. But I think I like lavender and vanilla more."

(Later that night)

Tamaki came and knocked on the door, asking quietly "Yuki, do you know where Kyouya is? We should probably get going: it is pretty late." When he didn't get a reply, he knocked a little louder. Still no reply.

So he went downstairs and asked Misuzu if she could go and open her door. She said "Why, here, just have the master key. But you had better not do anything inappropriate to Ms. Yuki." Tamaki shook his head vigorously at her implication. _I am not like that. I would never do such a thing to anyone. Beside, she may be pretty, but I just don't like her like that._

He decided to get Kaoru, Hunny and Mori as his witnesses. They all walked up the stairs again and gently opened her door. _Damn, I can't see a thing. _ Tamaki thought. Then a flash of lightning revealed Kyouya dozing peacefully on her bed. _OH MY GOD! THEY… no way._

Hunny whispered "Look over there, in the chair." It was Yuki curled up in sleep in the chair by the bed. She wore long pajama bottoms and a tank top. All the boys could see the bandages she had wrapped around her shoulders. Hunny went and turned on the bathroom light, but it didn't wake either of them.

Kaoru hissed in sympathy as he walked up to her sleeping form. "That Derrick guy is a disgrace. What kind of man would torture a girl like this?" "That's exactly what I asked him, Kaoru. He couldn't seem to find an answer." Tamaki said.

Hunny walked up to Kyouya and sat on the bed, pulling off the blankets. "Poor Kyouya-chan. I figured out why he was wincing all day." They saw all of the marks on his body, and how he had identical bandages to Yuki's wrapped around small parts of his legs and arms.

Tamaki murmured "You should have heard how she screamed when Kyouya came up behind her. Yuki was the one who did all of this to him: out of pure terror and shock."

Mori said to them "It looks like she was trying to help, but he must have fallen asleep before she could wrap his torso."

Hunny nodded and added "And by the way he smells, it seems like she made him take a bath." Kaoru grinned, "Maybe she helped him take it too."

Tamaki glared at the mischievous boy. "Our Yuki wouldn't do something like that, you pervert. She must feel horrible for hurting him like this." Kaoru said humbly "I know she wouldn't, but it is so cute! Should we wake him up, so Yuki can sleep in her own bed?"

Mori shook his head. "If she wanted him awake, she would have woken him herself." Hunny nodded in agreement. "She isn't someone that you want to cross."

"Well then," Tamaki said, "Lets just put the two of them on the bed. Yuki will catch a cold if we don't." Hunny moved Kyouya all the way to the right of the bed, while Mori gently lifted her up onto the left side. He grunted and said, "She is heavier then she looks."

Kaoru pulled the blankets over the two of them and murmured "You guys are more like match makers then I am. Hey, Hunny, ten bucks says she punches him in the morning."

Hunny said "Ten bucks says she will kill us for putting her there."

While closing the door, Tamaki told them "Ten bucks says she'll be too shocked to do anything."

(Next morning, Kyouya's point of view)

When I woke up at about 1:30, I didn't know where I was. I shot up from under some unfamiliar covers. _How the hell did I end up in just my boxers, in this room? Where the hell am I? _ I thought. I looked down at my ribs and saw that the bruises were still there. _Wait… the bruises don't hurt._ And it came back to me: Yuki bringing me into her room, the freaky bubble bath, and the cream.

Then I remembered falling asleep while Yuki rubbed the lotion lightly into my legs as she hummed a little tune. _Her voice is so rough when she talks, but she hummed so comfortingly. And her touch was so gentle. I fell asleep… and then she… _ I blushed a thousand shades of red as I faintly remembered her taking off my glasses and kissing my forehead before she sat down in the chair. Sleep pulled me under right after that.

I turned to look at the chair, where she should have been, and saw her snuggled up under the covers. _HOLY SHIT! How did that happen? _Her hair was loosely hanging around her calm face, and she was curled up in a little ball. Then Yuki's expression changed into one of fright as she curled up even tighter, moaning.

I started to calculate what I should do. _I could just get up and go now…_ It seemed to be the most obvious thing to do. But at that moment she whispered something in her sleep. Trying to hear what it was, I leaned down closer to her. "I'm sorry Suki. It's all my fault. I should have…I should have…No. No! Come back…Come back!" A single tear streaked down her face. I gently wiped it away with my thumb. I decided that I couldn't just leave her alone, even if she seemed okay the whole day. _We only see what Yuki wants us to see. It still surprises me that she even opened up like that at all. She always seems to have so much control over her emotions. _

Another murmur escaped her lips, and she curled up even tighter. Softly, I put my hand on her shoulder, and as loud as I dared, whispered, "It isn't your fault. There is nothing you could have done." Yuki stiffened to my touch at first, but the more I repeated the little mantra, the calmer she got. Eventually she loosened up, and her talking ceased. With that, I stood up and touched down on the icy floor. When I headed towards the bathroom to get dressed, she started up again. I sat back down and repeated the process. Same as before, when I went to leave, Yuki's cries of "come back" got louder. For once, it pained me to see someone in this much emotional distress. Normally I couldn't care less. However, after what happened in the park, I couldn't just leave her there, crying, when someone should be there to comfort her.

It got colder in the room, and I finally gave up. As quietly as I could, I got back under the covers lay on my back. Finally, she stayed silent. _If she wakes up and we're in the same bed, that will be strange. _The darkness of sleep washed over me soon after. Not before an almost indiscernible mutter of "Hmm, spice oranges" came from my friend's direction.

(Later, Yuki's point of view)

I woke up at dawn from a relatively dreamless sleep, and felt a presence right up against me. I stiffened quickly by instinct. It wasn't my imagination: the presence was still there. It wasn't bad, just something I wasn't used to. It had one arm wrapped tenderly around my waist, and I felt lips on the back of my neck, breathing steadily.

Slowly, careful not to awaken my captor, I twisted in his arms to face him. It was Kyouya, still fast asleep on my bed. He adjusted his body with my movement. _How the fucking hell did I end up on the bed? Did he put me here? No, I don't think so. And I don't remember getting up at all last night. _ I looked down and saw that he was still in his boxers: his body molded around mine. I blushed bright crimson.

I took a deep breath of his orange cloves scent that couldn't be masked by my bubble bath liquid. I gently moved my arm. At my little budge, his arms wrapped around me tighter. _How am I going to get out of this without waking him up? _ _It will be so embarrassing if we both wake up like this. _As I tried to wiggle down from in between his arms, I touched one of the bruises. He flinched, but held me tighter still. _Ugh, why? Why can't I just wake him up with a good jab to a bruise? Why do I have to have a conscience now of all times?_ Giving up for the time being, I twisted back around and faced the same direction as he was. I don't know how he didn't wake up, but he didn't. Sooner or later, I must have fallen back to sleep. When I came around again, Kyouya stirred and finally removed his arm from my waist. After that he turned around, all the while still asleep.

Seeing my chance, I got up and went to grab my locket off the bedside table. Once I got there, I saw Kyouya, with his eyes closed and a blush on his cheeks. _Oh, crap! He was awake! Okay, he probably thinks that I don't know. Let him; saves us from having to talk about it and make this even more awkward. _With that intention in mind, I went to the closet that had all of my stuff in it. Grabbing a plain black shirt and jeans, I ran into the bathroom and got ready. You know, brush teeth, wash face and get dressed.

When that was done, I snagged my hair brush off of the counter and began to work the knots out. _Stupid thick wavy hair. Why can't I just cut you off? _ _It would make my life a whole hell of a lot easier._ I thought as I pulled the mess into its ponytail.

When I was finished, I walked out of the bathroom and into the freezing cold bedroom. _Damn, its freaking icy in here._ So I turned to my closet and pulled out the grey and purple sweater Kyouya suggested I buy. I slipped it on over my head, and turned to look at the dude in my bed.

After making sure that there was nothing lying around that I wouldn't want him to see, I walked up to the side of the bed. "Kyouya, time to wake up," I whispered. He fiend being woken up and rubbed his eyes. After an odd moment of silence, I decided to ask the question that had been on my mind ever since I woke up.

"Kyouya, how did we end up in the bed together?" I asked, grabbing at the locket. He flushed a shade of pink and said "I thought you could tell me. Why didn't you just wake me up after I fell asleep?" I replied "I was sure that the guys would come and get you, but I fell asleep myself in the chair before that happened. When I woke up, I was… on the bed with you."

"Wait a second…" he said, and then his expression switched from embarrassment to pale white fury. "The guys…" Then we both shot up like rockets and screamed "YOU GUYS ARE DEAD!"

I saw Hunny, Kaoru, Tamaki and Mori run outside through the window, and Hunny yelled "Okay guys, cough it up. But I kind of wish that Kaoru was right, now that I think about it."

"Eh, I kill them later. They have to come back sometime. Besides, I know where they all live." I mumbled as I pulled out some more bandages. Turning to Kyouya, I said "I didn't get to do your torso since you fell asleep while I was… you know. I got your legs and arms while I was at it though. So sit up straight, and breathe normally." He flinched only a little bit as I sat behind him. His arms went in the air as I slowly wrapped the bandages around his ribs over and over. _It is useless wrapping them around his stomach, and there is nothing too serious on his upper chest. So the last couple of ribs should do._ I took my time since it was hard trying to make it tight enough to help but loose enough that he could breathe.

When I finally finished, he sighed and said "Thanks, Yuki. Are my clothes still in the bathroom?" I nodded and he made his way in there. "There is a face cloth you can use to wash up. I put it right beside your clothes on the counter." I yelled. "Okay, I see them."

Kyouya came out a few minutes later, and I asked him "Do you want to see if the 4 chickens have come back for breakfast?" He just shrugged and made his way down the stairs. I followed, and we sat down at the table we usually shared with Tamaki. Kyouya went and got a pitcher of orange juice, and poured me a glass.

"Kyouya, seriously, why do you insist on serving the orange juice to me every morning?" I asked, taking a sip of my OJ. "I don't know: it must be a habit or something." He replied. I shrugged and looked out the window as we waited for breakfast to come. The boys were out there in the trees, hiding pretty badly. At that point, I thought that making them stay out in the damp was enough punishment. I savored my last meal in Karuizawa, and borrowed two books on it from Misuzu. Kyouya and I read for a little while after our meal.

"We're leaving today, right?" I wanted to know. He nodded and said "We have to be at the airport at 12 and it takes ten minutes to get there. So it would be smart to pack now." I shrugged and walked up to my room. There weren't that many clothes to pack, and it wasn't like we had to go through security, so I just stuffed it all into my suitcase. Repacking my pillow and my blanket into the duffle bag was a little harder, but I managed it pretty well. Making sure I got all of my toiletries, including my bubble bath liquid and lotion, I set my junk by the door.

Seeing that I still had an hour or so until we had to leave, I opened up the window to hear Tamaki, Kyouya, Mori, the Twins, Hunny and Haruhi talking under my balcony.

Tamaki: This has been the best spring vacation trip ever!

Hikaru: Eh, I think going to Switzerland would have been more fun.

Hunny: Haruhi doesn't have a passport, and I don't know if Yuki has one either.

Kaoru: Speaking of Yuki… (scream)

Kyouya: I know what you guys did; I am not stupid. Don't try setting us up like that again, okay?

Haruhi: What happened senpai?

Hikaru: Yeah, what happened that could make our shadow king so violent?

Hunny: Well, when you two were out on your date, Yuki got attacked by some freak she knew. Tama-chan and Kyouya came to her rescue, and she fell asleep crying in Kyouya's arms.

Tamaki: But not after she beat the holy hell out of Kyouya by accident.

Mori: Hai

Kaoru: And the next day, after our picnic, Yuki made Kyouya take a bath so she could help him with the bruises she had caused. But he fell asleep on her bed before she had finished. Then she fell asleep on her chair.

Tamaki: When we went in to see if Yuki knew where Kyouya was, we saw him on the bed and her in the chair. So we moved them both onto the bed and under the covers.

Hunny: They looked so cute!

Mori: But we ended up out here when they woke up and screamed that they were going to kill us.

Haruhi: Well, I wouldn't be surprised. Imagine me putting you and your… never mind.

Kaoru: Were you going to say crush!?

I decided to take action, and dropped a pillow straight onto Kaoru's head.

Me: What did you just say?

All the guilty dudes involved: NOTHING!

Me: It is 10 minutes before we have to be in the cars and on our way. You should really grab your stuff. Mori- catch. (Threw suitcase out the window)

Mori: Be careful. I might not have caught that.

Me: Well, you did, so stop complaining. Tamaki- your turn (threw duffle bag)

Tamaki: This is really light!

Me: That's why I saved it for you! I'd throw myself down, but I can't trust any of you to catch me and not get my new sweater all dirty. Be down in a second.

When I got to the bottom of the stairs, the guys had already put my stuff in the car. Misuzu was waiting there for us. Haruhi asked her to take a picture of all of us with her camera. I stood in the back with Kyouya (who had changed his clothes) and Tamaki on either side of me. The twins sandwiched poor Haruhi in between them. Mori sat on the floor in front with Hunny on his shoulders. As Misuzu said "Say cheese," I grabbed Tamaki and Kyouya around the necks and pulled them down to my level. They were completely surprised, but at least Tamaki laughed. Kyouya wasn't so amused: or at least he tried to hide it.

By the time I had made it outside after saying my goodbyes to Misuzu, the guys had already put my luggage in a car. I slipped in the backseat of one as Tamaki and Kyouya sat on either side. I just listened to my music until we got to the airport, and continued to do so as we sat down in the helicopter. I sat between my guys, and was across from Hunny this time.

After we took off, Tamaki fell asleep. He leaned in towards me and used my shoulder as a pillow. _I hope you wake up with a neck cramp. _ I listened to all of my songs once, and then half way through before we landed. Everyone said goodbye to each other and took off in their cars.


	8. Chapter 8

I woke up early in the morning. _I hate Mondays: why can't they just up and die already?_ My morning routine was done, as usual, and I got dressed in what I usually do. _Its just one of those 'usual' days. _I snagged my backpack and went down the stairs, where Suzette waited with some waffles. Scarfing down my breakfast, as usual, Stefan met me in front of the house in his car. "Good Morning, Miss Yuki." He said, cheery as ever. "Mondays are never good, Stefan, but thanks anyway." Stefan closed the door for me and we took off, the usual way.

But when we got to the school, it was everything but usual. "Good Luck, Miss Yuki, I have a feeling that you will need it." Stefan said ominously. "Thank you, Stefan. Drive safe." And he pulled away, leaving me in the middle of a crowd of workers. Each one was busy, either carrying or constructing something, all under the watchful eyes of one of the students.

_What kind of messed up world did I walk into?_ I thought as I made my way to my first class. Kyouya stopped me half way there and asked "What are you doing Yuki?" I said, staggered "Going to class. Where are you going?" He adjusted his glasses and said, "Here at Ouran, we have a cultural festival every year. This one is on the French. All classes are postponed for the activities."

I gave him a look and said "Well, what am I supposed to be doing then?" Kyouya grabbed my arm, tugging me alongside him. "You are going to help me set up some stuff online for the Host Club. Kaoru is getting lessons from Mori on driving a horse drawn carriage, with Hikaru, Hunny, Haruhi and Tamaki watching. I would ask one of them, but they are useless with computers."

I just shrugged and followed him to the closest computer lab. There, he set me up looking at different French decorations he had picked out, asking me which one I liked better: as a girl, and as a tom-boy. "Oh, thanks, Kyouya. I get to give you opinions for two people as one person. Totally makes me feel un-schizophrenic."

I flicked through the list of them, and ordered each one for same day shipping. Kyouya was looking at stocks and the Ootari home page. When I finished, I went on the site he was, and browsed through it. "What's so interesting about that, Kyouya?" I asked, truly curious. "The Tonnere family is buying out a lot of big companies in Japan. This is something that could definitely effect the Ootari…" and he stopped abruptly.

I looked over his shoulder and scanned the page.

Contracts Pending With Tonnere.

Ootari Inc.

"Oh, your family is selling to Tonnere?" I asked. Kyouya didn't respond at all. I

reached out and touched his shoulder. "Kyouya, you didn't know, did you?" I asked, and he shook his head. "Is there anything you can do about it?" He shook his head, then stood up, and slammed his fist into a wall. It went right through it like a hot knife through butter. When he turned to look at me, his expression was truly frightening.

I walked up to him and said "I will help you stop this however I can." He shook his head and muttered "There is nothing you can do. Tonnere is going to buy out my family's company."

Turning back down through the computer, I read through the entire page. _Ootari and Tonnere transaction… buying out in a month's time… yada yada yada… contract pending… finalized in 3 days…_

" Kyouya, come look at this!" I exclaimed, but he wouldn't turn around. "Kyouya Ootari, come look at this before I make you." He still didn't do as I commanded so I grabbed his collar and pulled him down next to the computer screen. Pointing to a particular section, I announced "This contract isn't even in effect yet… you still have today, tomorrow, and the next day to raise enough funds to buy out the company yourself."

Kyouya looked at me, then back to the computer screen and asked "How much money do they want?" I scanned down the side and said "Around 100 million yen." He slid down at his own computer and pulled up 5 or 6 different banking accounts. "Hmm… I have around 60 million yen here, in all of my accounts pulled together. If I sell all of my stocks as soon as I can, I will get around another 30 million. Damn… that's still 10 million yen to go." Slumping down into the seat, he started murmuring about "getting old debts paid" and junk like that.

"Is there any way that I can help?" I asked. "I don't think so, unless you have 10 million yen lying around, or a yakuza connection. And that still doesn't mean that my family will take me up on the offer if it is the same amount…" he responded.

"Why don't you let them continue running it themselves, which lets them and everyone else in the company keep their jobs." I suggested. Kyouya nodded and said, "I need some time to think this out. Maybe you can go and help the others with… something." Before I left to give him some alone time, I put a hand on his shoulder and said a little awkwardly "Kyouya… if you need anything, you know where I will be." He sighed, put his hand over mine and said "I know." His dark black eyes then blazed and he began to type at lightning fast rates.

(The next night)

_I hate you guys so much. How the hell did I get suckered into doing this?_ I thought as I slipped into a French style gown. It was a maroon with black ribbons as accents. _I especially hate the twins. Why did they get the task of picking out all of the costumes ? _"HARUHI, I NEED YOUR HELP IN HERE!" I screamed through the bathroom door. "Coming, Yuki," she said and walked in.

I was standing in the middle of the bathroom, trying to tighten the corset. "Could you get the back of this damn thing, Haruhi?" She nodded, and got to work lacing and tightening the corset. When she finished, she asked "Do you want me to help you with your make-up?" I retorted "Like hell I'm wearing make-up. It is bad enough I have to wear one of those freaking huge fake hair pieces, let alone make-up."

Kaoru knocked on the door, hearing my fit. "Yuki, as the head in fashion for the Host Club along side Hikaru, we have the right to give you strict orders to wear at least some mascara. Tamaki and Kyouya said we could do it too."

I huffed for a bit, but then conceded, "Fine, Haruhi. Take it away." She gently applied some mascara to my eyelashes. "I would have put on some eyeliner, but it might be too much for your first time using make-up." Hikaru said as I walked out of the bathroom. Tamaki was beside me in an instant, cooing "Oh, Dearest Yuki, your beauty is surpassed by no one in this world. It is my hope that you will continue to wear the outfits that the twins picked out for you." I saw said twins holding up frilly gowns and lingerie from behind him, which received one of my deadlier glares.

Hunny came up beside me and gave my skirt a little tug. "Yuki-chan," he whimpered with big tears in his eyes "Can I have a hug before we go?" I couldn't resist that little teary glance, so I picked him up and swung him around in the air. "YEAH!" he yelled, and Kyouya snuck up on me. "Yuki, I think it would be best if you put Hunny-senpai down, so we can go greet our guests." I nodded, passing him to Mori, and finally noticed that all of the guys (and Haruhi) were wearing matching waiters' outfits.

"What the hell am I doing in a dress when you guys get to wear those!?" I shrieked. The Twins looked at me with evil intent and said "We can't have Haruhi dressed up like a girl for the whole festival. That would look suspicious. So it is your job to be the Hostess and greet all of our guests."

I turned very slowly to an amused Kyouya and grabbed him by the neck, shaking him and yelling "Is this your idea for pay back for something, Kyouya? I bet that you were the one who thought of this, didn't you? Why did no one tell me about this before? Damn it, once this is over I will hunt you down and make you wish you were never born!" Letting go of his neck, I twisted to look at the Twins. "I know you were in on this too, boys, so sleep with one eye open."

Tamaki coughed and said, "All you have to do is welcome everyone when we first open the doors and when I go up for my piano solo, you must introduce yourself, the others, and what I will be doing. Simple as that."

I nodded and muttered "Well, it is about to begin. Lets get my living hell over and done with, shall we?" Walking slowly the extravagantly decorated rooms, I finally made it to a little door that led out into the reception hall. Standing in front of the steps that led to the huge double door was the entrance to the biggest room was what must have been a couple hundred people. Mostly students with their parents, but all of them were very important people.

They all quieted as I slowly walked up the steps and stood in the middle of the giant door. I spotted Mari and her husband, Kuronosuke, and they waved to me. At the sight of them smiling, hand in hand, I gathered my courage.

Taking a deep breath, I announced: "Ladies and gentlemen, on the behalf of all the members of the Host Club, I welcome you to the Ouran Annual Cultural Festival!" Behind me the doors opened, with Hunny, Mori and Haruhi holding one door. The twins, Kyouya and Tamaki held the other. Light poured in from the chandeliers, making the whole opening scene look extravagant.

When no one moved I added "Please come join us in the celebrations!" and walked into the room. Three hundred people followed me as I made my way up to the front. They spread out like a fan, and the boys got to work.

I sat down on a chair in the corner of the room because my knees were wobbling. _Wow, I can't believe I walked that whole way in high heels with out tripping ._ I heard someone come up from behind me: two some ones actually. It was Mari and Kuronosuke. "Oh, Yuki, you were spectacular! And you look so beautiful! Who convinced you to wear all of this?" I motioned for them to sit and said "It is an obligation for me being the only girl in the host club to be the Hostess. Which means I have to look like a girl."

Kuronosuke chuckled "Yuki, if you didn't love the host club, you wouldn't put yourself through this torture." Mari elbowed him in the ribs "But you do look wonderful. You didn't trip either." This time, I gave him a little kick from under the coffee table. "Ouch. Women are so cruel nowadays." Laughing, Mari asked "Can you introduce me to your friends? I want to see the boys my little sister is hanging out with all of the time." I shrugged and said, "I'll have to go and find them. They have to be tired already from wooing all of these girls."

Spotting the Twins, I asked the girls they were talking to "Might I borrow these two for a moment?" They nodded, and I looped my arms in through theirs as I pulled them along. I told them "You guys are coming to meet my sister Marianne, and her husband, Kuronosuke. Be good, or they might not let me come back."

I introduced them to each other. "Mari, Kuronosuke, these are the Hitachiin twins, Kaoru and Hikaru." "It is a pleasure to meet you Madame," they said in unison, taking one of her hands each and kissing it. I gave them a sound thwack on the head and growled "She is my sister, you numb skulls."

Mari just laughed as Kuronosuke gave them a good glare. She asked them politely "Can you say your own name, and your brother's, please in your normal voice, and look at me while smiling and frowning?" They did as they were asked, and Kaoru remembered, "That is exactly what Yuki-chan asked us to do when she first met us."

"Well," Mari said, "That is pretty much one of the only ways to tell identical twins apart." Kuronosuke looked at them and said "I hope you are treating my sister with the respect she deserves." "Of course they are, brother. Do you think I would have it any other way?" I said. He laughed at the twin's shudder and replied "No, I don't think you would."

The Twin's excused themselves to do their duties as I ran and found Hunny and Mori. I made sure that I had wiped the cake off Hunny's face before bringing them both to my table. "Mitsukuni Haninozuka, Takashi Morinozuka: this is my sister and her husband, Kuronosuke. Mari, Kuronosuke: Hunny and Mori." Both bowed to my brother, who did the same in return. "It is nice to see my little cousins again." Hunny turned to Mari, and offered "Mrs. Harionaki, would you like some cake?" She reached down and gave the poor kid the tightest hug of his life and squealed, "Aw, aren't you just the sweetest thing?"

By the time I got back with Haruhi in tow, Hunny and Mori were gone. But not until after Mari was done hugging Hunny, and Kuronosuke and Mori had argued about the benefits of short versus long swords. "Mari, Kuronosuke, this is Haruhi Fujioka. She went to my old school, but we were in different grades." They both had a rather boring and polite conversation about how everything was back at home.

I whirled off to find Tamaki and saw him speaking with his grandmother. He seemed genuinely excited to see her. I couldn't say the same for her. When I heard her mutter "dirty child," I went to his rescue.

"Madame Suou," I said as politely as I could, "I am so glad that you could attend." I pulled out a seat for her, which she took while giving me a look. "Child, are you one his friends?" She asked with venom. "I am honored to say that I am. Speaking of your grandson, I must borrow him for a moment. He needs to greet my own family. If you'll excuse us?" I asked and took him away before she could reply.

I kept a firm grip on his elbow as I brought him to meet my kin. Both of them had noticed the confrontation, and quickly introduced themselves. Kuronosuke stood up and shook Tamaki's hand, saying "Hello, my name is Kuronosuke, and I am Yuki's brother in law. That is my wife, Mari." At that, Tamaki bowed and kissed Mari's hand. "Mr. Kuronosuke, I am jealous that you have such a lovely wife. I must tell everyone that the most beautiful woman in the room has been taken by such a deserving gentleman." Mari giggled and blushed. _Uh, not her too._

Mari asked "Aren't you my Yuki's year mate?" Tamaki nodded his head and said "The privilege is all mine. I probably would have flunked English if it wasn't for our amazing Yuki-chan." I gave him a good shove for that and commented "Well, we both would have failed Trig if it wasn't for Kyouya. Where is our little book worm anyway?" Tamaki shrugged, and had to take off before a huge group of girls nearby noticed him.

After he departed, Mari growled "I hate his grandmother. She treats everyone like dirt." Kuronosuke added "You must protect your friends, Yuki: at all costs…" I interrupted him "I have one more friend I'd like to introduce you to. He is the one we were talking about a second ago. Be right back."

I slipped away, weaving in and out of the crowd. Soon, I spotted Kyouya in front of a distinctive middle aged man who was very tense. Before I had the chance to stop him, the man slapped Kyouya right in the face. Anger bubbled up in my chest as he fell to the floor on one knee. _How dare that man even think of striking MY friend?_

I jumped out in front of Kyouya, and helped him to his feet quickly. "Are you all right?" I whispered into his ear. "Fine," he muttered, "But try not to upset my father." _That's who the bastard is._

Turning my attention to Mr. Ootari and asked "Excuse me, sir, but might I ask why you just committed a violent act against this young man?"

He adjusted his glasses and replied "No you may not. Who are you to question the acts of your elders?"

"I am the Hostess of this event, and anything that might disturb the other guests is my concern, no matter who it is between. Now, I would like to know what caused you to do this." I said, completely in control of my emotions. My face felt like ice, and my body was numb, but my mind was racing. _What the fuck are you getting yourself into?_

"Do you know who you are dealing with, young lady?" He growled, coming right up into my face. "Yes I do. You are Sasuke Ootari, head of the Ootari household and major shareholder of Ootari Incorporated." I responded, my tone as cold and hard as my face felt.

He spat "Then you must know that my company is one of the biggest businesses in Japan, and also in control of the secret police." He then whispered, just loud enough for me to hear, "And I can make your life a living hell." By that time, everyone in the room had turned to face us. I saw all of my friends looking at me with surprise and anxiety. Tamaki went to make a move, but Mori held him back. Kyouya just stood there behind me, in total shock. My eye twitched as I saw him hold the side of his face, where a slight bruise was already evident.

"Mr. Ootari, the business at hand has nothing to do with your company's success. I asked you why you struck your son." I calmly inquired again.

He tensed up again, ready to strike. "Try and hit me Mr. Ootari. There are three hundred witnesses to attest to the fact that you struck me first. I would be completely within my rights to defend myself. And I can and will do just that." I said coldly, loud enough for everyone to hear. Adding as an afterthought, "I would appreciate if you didn't cause another disturbance in front of our honored guests."

The Ootari gave me one final glare, turned around, and walked across the room, to speak with Tamaki's grandmother. At that moment, my knees turned to jelly, and I almost keeled over. I would have, if Kyouya hadn't picked that exact moment to slip out of his daze. It wasn't very dramatic, since he steadied me before I fell, but a few people noticed.

Kyouya muttered into my ear as he eased me onto a nearby couch, "You have to pick tough opponents, don't you?" I replied shakily, "Yeah. Life wouldn't be much fun if there weren't a lot of challenges." Mari and Kuronosuke came floating to my side. "Dear, are you all right? You're shaking." I nodded and turned to Kyouya. "Kyouya Ootari, this is my sister and brother in law, Marianne and Kuronosuke Harionaki. Kyouya: Mari and my Sensei."

He nodded quickly and murmured a "Pleased to meet your acquaintance" before he turned to me and asked haughtily "Do you know what you have just done?" I nodded again and he said, "Seriously, do you?"

I gave him a quick 'could have had a v8' whack to the head and said "Yes I do. I just helped one of my best friends. That's all it was. Sorry if it hurts your manly pride that a girl helped you, but get over it. Now shut your yap before I shut it for you." Kyouya scowled and turned to my relatives.

Kuronosuke asked "Aren't you the boy who called to set up Yuki's trip to Karuizawa?" Kyouya nodded and said "Sorry that it was such short notice, but we didn't know we were going until that morning as well." "That's absolutely fine, Kyouya," Mari said, patting his knee. "Our little Yuki needs to get out of the house more often, even if it is with a bunch of handsome young men."

I blushed and said "Hey, they are all my only friends. And I had my own room in a little guest house away from them." _Haruhi is a girl, so they aren't exactly right. _Kuronosuke went to ruffle my hair, but decided against it and chuckled "She was just kidding, Yuki." Turning his attention to Kyouya he said "All you have to do know is get her to wear her hair down, of her own accord. If you can do that, you'll be a miracle worker."

Kyouya had a slightly haunted look on his face as he nodded. I heard him mutter almost silently "If it has to be under the same conditions as last time, I would rather not." Wondering what he meant, he walked away before I really noticed.

Realizing that Mari and Kuronosuke were still there I asked "So, how do you like my buddies?" Kuronosuke said "Eh, some of them are so-so, but that is just because they are heart-throbs. They would have to be if they were doing something as weird as a Host Club." Mari gave him another jab to the ribs and agreed with him "But I know that you wouldn't let yourself get sucked under by their charms. You are too much of a tom-boy for that. But you wouldn't be able to tell by the way you are dressing tonight."

I stuck my tongue out at him and muttered, "Do you guys think I was a little too …harsh… with Mr. Ootari? Most people don't like younger people embarrassing them in public. I'm afraid that when Kyouya gets home, he'll have a lot more in store for him because of me."

They both shook their heads. Mari answered "Yuki, Mr. Ootari just made a fool of himself in front of the most powerful people in Japan. He'll think twice before he does anything like that again."

Kuronosuke added, shouldering in a one armed hug, "I am so proud of you, Yuki. You defended your friend, and made everyone here fear the Harionaki name." I thought it over for a minute and said "I don't think that a lot of people here realize who I am. Since I'm not a Harionaki by blood, I am just some girl that got sucked into doing this by the Host Club."

Tamaki came up behind me and said, "Well, Yuki-chan, its time for the introduction of the Host Club." Before I left, I directed to my relations "Bring out the tissues: Tamaki will make you cry with his piece."

I took Tamaki's offered arm and we walked up to the front of the stage. The rest of the guys were already there, in a different costume. _Fuck, I hope I wasn't supposed to change. _ _Its too late now._ Hunny rushed up and gave me a microphone, which I gladly accepted.

I turned to the audience that had seemed to swell from the previous 3 hundred to double that amount. "Ladies and Gentlemen. It is my honor to introduce to you the members of Ouran School's Host club." I walked down along the line, pointing to each one as I said there names. "Tamaki Suou, our president, along with his vice, Kyouya Ootari, are both sophomores. Kaoru and Hikaru Hitachiin who picked out all of these wonderful outfits that you have seen us in tonight, and will see us wearing in the future are Haruhi Fujioka's freshman year mates. Last but not least are our seniors, Mitsukuni Haninozuka and Takashi Morinozuka. Tonight, it is our sincere hope that you will enjoy Tamaki's presentation of _____ by _____ in _____.

As I went to leave, Tamaki stopped me, and took the microphone from my hand. "I would like to dedicate this performance to our lovely Hostess, Lady Yukimarah Harionaki. Without her hard work and effort, none of this would be possible." He gave me a quick squeeze around the shoulders as the audience applauded, and I hurried off the stage, blushing the whole way.

The Twins came up from behind me, and giggled "Didn't expect that from our Lord, did you? Even though he isn't half as cunning as our Shadow King, he still had some tricks hidden in his sleeves."

"Yeah, I didn't think he would do something like that. I wonder why…" Haruhi pondered.

More silent than an owl, Hunny approached and whispered, "It's because he wanted Kyouya's father to know exactly who he was dealing with. If you hadn't been so concerned about getting away as fast as possible, you would have seen the look on Ootari's face."

"Hai" Mori agreed.

"I still think you just made an enemy for your family that you don't need." Kyouya said from the shadows. But the look of triumph he wore showed that he had seen his father's reaction.

When everyone else left, I walked up to Kyouya and chuckled. He gave me a glare and asked "What's so funny?"

I answered. "Kyouya, think it through. If you buy out Ootari company, I won't have to worry about that because the head is my best friend. If Tonnere wins, it's the same way because your father will almost definitely be off the board. They won't keep him there: it would have been put in the contract if he were. So the guy who has a grudge against me will have no power either way." _I hadn't even really thought of that, until now._

Kyouya looked at me and muttered "You had already thought that through before you defended me, hadn't you? Either way, nothing happens that negatively affects you in any way."

He turned to walk away, but I turned him around and gently placed my hand on the bruise on his cheek. I whispered into his ear, "Of course I hadn't silly. But I did after I grabbed my passport so I could flee the country. No matter who it is, I will always protect my friends. I don't care if it is God Himself, nothing will happen to you when I am around. That's a promise." Kyouya had wrapped his arms around me after that, and we stood there for a moment or two. "Thank you, Yuki. I'm so sorry that I even thought that." He buzzed softly into my hair. "I know, Kyouya." Ever so slowly, he pulled away. We stood there, looking at each other.

To lift the little awkwardness of the scene, I grabbed him by the throat and gave him a firm shake. "But I still haven't forgiven your little stunt with me being the Hostess. Don't think that this apology solves that one, you conniving little prick."

"Okay, Okay, let go of me! I can't breathe!" he garbled. "That's the whole point of choking someone, isn't it?" I said as I let go. We walked out onto the floor and began to walk around the dancing area. "How much money do we have to get before we can buy your father out?" I asked. "About 10 million yen. And what do you mean, 'we'?" Kyouya replied as we watched the dancers weave around the floor.

Suddenly, a brilliant idea struck me. "Kyouya, remember how you offered to pay me for my services to the host club?" He nodded. "Have you been saving up what I would have earned?" "Of course I have, that is about 9 million yen right there. It would be a waste."

I pulled a very serious face and said "Kyouya Ootari, I officially want my money." The look on his face was one of surprise. "You'll have to wait until I can get to the bank tomorrow Ms. Harionaki." I nodded, and suppressed a giggle at the fact he had just become so formal. Kyouya only ever did it when he was in complete shock.

"Kyouya, I want that money put into your account, so you can buy out that bastard." Before I knew it, he had picked me up around the waist and pulled me onto the dance floor, spinning me in the air. "You're amazing!" He cried, "The most kind, generous, spectacular person I have ever met!" Kyouya continued to spin me around and I laughed so hard my sides ached. The smile he wore made his face glow, putting angels to shame. Giggling, I said "It took you this long to figure that out?" Realizing exactly where we were, I felt my face flush.

"Kyouya put me down this instant!" I exclaimed, but he ignored me. Pounding his shoulders with my fists I yelled "Kyouya, I'm in a dress, put me down!" He complied this time, blushing his head off as all of the people around us stared.

As we walked away as fast as we could, I gave him a sound whack in the back of the head. "I can't believe you didn't realize that before, you dunce." Kyouya didn't know how to answer, so he apologized. "Sorry about that. I got a little carried away. Didn't mean to embarrass you in front of all of those people."

"Damn, you seem to be apologizing a lot lately. What's next, saying sorry that my hair is brown?" I asked, my hands on my hips. He smirked saying "Sorry that your hair is such an awful, nasty, dusty…" But I cut him off with another smack.

"Now I only need 1 million yen, but I've completely cleaned out all of my sources." Kyouya murmured to himself, completely changing his current expression. "I'll see what I can do…" I mumbled softly. _This leaves me with only one option left. I really didn't want to take it, but it is necessary._

When Tamaki was finally finished, all of the Host club members strolled back out onto the floor. I circled around like a hawk, careful to catch any case of trouble brewing. Luckily, I only had to stop a fight between the Twins, but that was all for show. Just seeing me, a lot of people stopped their conversations and stared.

Most everyone started to file out at around 8 o'clock, so I stood in front of the door and wished everyone a pleasant evening, and a safe trip home. Except for Mr. Ootari: _I may have been nice while dealing with him before, but enough was enough._

At last, Mari and Kuronosuke took their leave. "Goodnight, Yuki-chan. I'll see you at home." Mari said when she hugged me goodbye. Kuronosuke ruffled everyone's hair but mine. Mari even gave all of my friends a hug and a kiss on the nose as she left, leaving them a little amazed. "Wow, Yuki, you and your sister couldn't be more different." Hikaru said.

"That's not true: Yuki-chan gives me hugs all the time." Hunny giggled as he jumped onto Mori's back. "I agree with Hikaru," Tamaki announced, "Sorry for lying to your sister, but I don't think the most beautiful woman here is taken. Unless you are unavailable, Yuki."

I gave him a sound thwack in the head a hissed, "Your flirting might charm the other girls, but you are just spouting mud to me, Tamaki. I would have hoped you'd realized it by now."

Haruhi went and sided with Hikaru: "The twins are right, Mari is a little too… I don't know…" "Sweet?" Kaoru suggested. "How about kind-hearted, innocent, loving, polite…" And I shut him up with another hit. "I forgot to add passive." He murmured, rubbing his sore skull.

I just shrugged and said "Just get over it. I'm tired, and I have revenge to plan. Bye!"

The twins and Kyouya shuddered visibly, and I left to find Stephan waiting in the car. "Miss. Yuki, you look absolutely outstanding!" He announced in awe as he opened my door. "Thank you, Stephan, but I would rather jump into a pit of lava before wearing this again. Although it seems like I will be wearing something like it tomorrow." I replied. "I'd like to get home ASAP, if you please." I added, a little harshly. "Yes, Miss Yuki. Of course, Miss Yuki." He murmured, but his eyes were still a little large with surprise.

I grabbed my locket unconsciously on the drive home, swinging it in the same familiar motion. Gently, I ran my thumb and fore finger along the engraved swirls on both sides. The white gold was warm from hanging against my chest. There was a soft chinking from the chain as I continued to run it back and forth.

_Damn, I can't believe I'm going to do this._

_Oh, shut up; it's just a friggin' locket for God's sake._

_You know as well as I do that this locket is special._

_But you are doing this for Kyo-kun, right?_

_Who is Kyo-kun? Oh… Yeah, of course._

_Then it shouldn't matter. _

_Right…_

_A kind saint once said: "The smile from the receiver should be gratitude enough for the one who sacrificed."_

_Sure, someone said that. Sounds like you made that up._

_You are me, and I am you, so we made it up. Besides, you know it sounded snazzy.._

_God, I can't believe I'm schizophrenic. Who says snazzy anymore?_

_Believe it Yuki, I'll be here as long as you are. Back on topic please._

_Whatever._

_We have to see how much it will be worth._

_It's a family heirloom going back generations. At least a million yen._

_But it won't have a lot of time to be bid on._

_True, very true._

By that time, we had gotten home, and I ran up the stairs. I stopped by Kuronosuke and Mari's room, and poked my head in. They were both asleep in each other's arms. _Aw, isn't that cute? _ Then I walked up to my room and turned on my computer. _I love my computer! No stupid freaking laptops for me man. It is much faster like this anyway._

I went to work, and at about midnight, I finally sold it. _1.5 million yen, baby!_

_Say good bye to your tiny trinket, deary: it's time to package it up and send it to that person. __Okay, okay! I got it… just give me a second. One more swing for good luck._

Cautiously, I swayed it back and forth for the final time, afraid it might break just because I needed it not to. The metal was still comforting, but I knew it would be leaving me. _I remember when Kuronosuke gave this to me after Suki quit her training to take up art classes with Derrick. I had won: and he gave me this as my prize. It was one of the only ways that people could tell me and Suki apart. Suki was the one who gave me the picture. We were deciding what to put on the other side during the car drive… The drive she perished in. This little locket has hung from my throat ever since. _I could feel my resolve slipping from me as my mind continued to wander.

_But the only way that Kyo-kun will ever get that company is if you send this off to the guy who bought it from you just now. And you want to fulfill his heart's desire, right?_

_Of course I do. Why the hell do you think I would even consider selling it in the first place?_

_Whatever. Let's finish this up, girly_

_._

I unclipped the back, and took one last look at it as I enveloped it in bubble wrap. Light glinted off my locket as if a final farewell. Finally, I slipped it into the box, labeled it, and put it downstairs for the mail to pick up in the morning.

During my shower, I let the water pound down my back. _This was for Kyouya, Yuki. Remember that. _I thought it over and over again as I finally slipped under my covers and fell into a fitful sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Kyouya's point of view.

I sat silently as the beautiful girl walked, no, glided, down the stairs of the host club. She looked spectacular in a dark blue ball gown. Chocolate brown hair hung in a bun on the top of her head. _The face of an angel… Or not…_ I saw a twinkle in Yuki's eye when she saw me and the rest of the club gawking at her in amazement.

"See brother," Kaoru said as the Twin's circled around Yuki like a pair of vultures, "I knew that this would work. Yuki looks astounding in this shade. It accents the blue in her almost black eyes." Hikaru giggled. "Yeah, and at least we put the bun somewhere else on her head besides the signature 'below the neck' style." They exchanged hi-fives and got a sound whack in the back of the head. "You forgot to mention my other signature: delivering pain to the Twins." She hissed.

I chuckled slightly when I realized that this marvelous woman standing in front of me was still Yuki. _No different then she was 10 minutes ago. She still looks… surreal. _Something else was different about her though, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

Tamaki was on one knee in front of her with a pristine white rose. "Dearest Yuki, you shall be the most dazzling woman at the ball tonight." "Cram it, lover boy," she said harshly, though she took the rose with the utmost care in her hands. Those hands could be as soft as a feather, or hit you like a brick. Turning to Haruhi, who was also in a dress, she passed it to her and announced "I think that Haruhi should be getting the rose, not me. If it wouldn't embarrass you people or my family, I would have come in jeans and a t-shirt. Our Haruhi is the girl who did this of her own free will."

Haruhi blushed and put the rose in a vase looking in my direction and mumbling something along the lines of 'not necessarily.' To be honest, I didn't really care that she had to do this to pay off a debt. It was her fault that she broke that vase, not mine.

My mind wandered to the guests waiting in the hall with all of the other guests. Since we didn't need to introduce the guests to our facilities, they began streaming into the secondary hall. In one hour, everyone would be changing outfits and putting on masks. _The masquerade ball was Yuki's idea. Let everyone enjoy themselves without knowing who everyone else was._ The said girl walked beside me as we passed into the hall.

Tamaki headed straight for a giggling group of girls that gawked at him, and the Twins did the same. Hunny and Mori made a bee line to the snack table. Yuki continued to follow me without a word as I made my way around, taking everything in. The decorations we had picked out worked perfectly together.

As we passed by a pillar in the hall, a grip like a vice grabbed my arm and pulled me into the shadows. It was Yuki, with a strange look on her face. "What is it? What is wrong?" I asked, worried all of a sudden because of her expression. Then a huge toothy smile spread across her face as she pulled something from out of her shoe.

"Here, this is for you." The slip of paper she handed to me was folded up, and I opened it. There, plain as day, was a check for 1.5 million yen made out by Yuki to me. "Now I can see the look on your dad's face when he finds out that you, his 3rd son, bought his company from right under his nose." Yuki's face was triumphant, but the normal gleam in her dark eyes was gone. "How did you come across this?" I asked, my stomach full of butterflies. Her smile cracked slightly. "It doesn't matter. Now go and finish up that deal. I'll cover for you." She replied as she pushed me out from behind the pillar.

The moment I walked away, I saw the smile shatter and slip away from her heavenly face. Yuki went to grab her neck for a moment, but pulled back, and a look of complete sadness crossed her features. But before I could turn back, I was pushed into the crowd, and she disappeared from sight.

Hurriedly, I made my way to a side door and went to my computer. Punching in what needed to be, the money was transferred into my account. Then I emailed my lawyer and told him to seal the deal.

By the time I was finished, it was time to get changed for the masquerade ball. I did that as fast as I could, and made my way into the hall. Everyone around me had masks on, of all different shapes and sizes. Mine was a black, silver and white half mask, just covering up my eyes and nose. The "black tie event" suit matched it.

Since father didn't want to come after the 'disgraceful wench' made fun of him yesterday, the only person from my family who came today was my sister, Rose. I knew that she would be waiting for me by one of the couches, in a green half mask. Making my way in that direction, I saw her looking for someone frantically. When she caught sight of me, she pulled me onto a lonely couch in the corner of the room.

Then I saw it in her hand: a locket. The white gold locket was simple but unique, with swirls carved into the soft metal. "That…that's…" I muttered. "This is a present from my boyfriend to me, and he just gave it to me tonight before I came. When I opened it, a picture of your little friend Yuki popped out. Is this hers?" She asked. I nodded, dumbfounded.

_That was what was missing. She didn't have the locket. Yuki must have sold it to give me the 1.5 million yen. That idiot! She should have never given it up!_

"So it does belong to the girl that you talk so frequently about. You need to go and give it back." Rose demanded. "And you need to tell her." "Tell her what?" I asked. "That you are in love with her, brother." I couldn't say anything for a moment. "Was it that obvious?" I mumbled.

"Brother, I knew you liked her the moment you said she had come to your school. Just the way you said her name, with such affection, told me that you liked her. And then, when you came back home from your holiday, you said it with such protectiveness that it scared me. That was when I knew you loved her. To top that off, every time you come home from school, there is a smile on your face and a laugh just waiting to get out. The only other person who could do that was Tamaki. Putting it frankly, I thought you were going to be gay." She said matter-of-factly.

Taking my hand, Rose put the locket in my palm and wrapped my fingers around it. "Now, go and get that girl, and tell her how you feel." I shook my head and muttered "What… what if she doesn't feel the same? She is so special and beautiful, she could have anyone. Maybe she is in love with someone else. Like Tamaki. He is so romantic, every girl he meets falls in love with him. Or maybe it is someone else at the host club. Everyone who has seen her driver, Stephan, knows that he has a crush on her…"

My sister hugged me around the neck and said "No, dear brother. She is in love with you, though I have never met her. From what you have told me, this locket is her most cherished possession. You said that she acts like it is her sister's heart. And she was willing to sell it for you, so you might get what you need to buy out father's company." I gasped, but she waved me off, "I think that I am smart enough to recognize that the mysterious 'K.O.' is my brother. But she did that for you, Kyouya Ootari. Don't you ever take that for granted. Now go, before I change my mind and take the locket back."

I stood up and whizzed off to find her. While circling around the ballroom, I realized that I didn't know what kind of costume she would be wearing. I decided to seek out the twins. Passing Tamaki dancing with a girl in orange, I spotted them. "You guys, where is Yuki?" I asked frantically. They exchanged knowing looks and one of them said "She has been moping around the balconies ever since we made her change into her costume." The other one said "Yeah, and tell her she looks good: she needs to hear it from someone who doesn't say it all the time, like us."

I swept off to the balconies, and almost passed the dark lit one away from the crowd. There, leaning on the edge in the moonlight, was Yuki. She looked elegant in a pastel sleeveless lavender gown. It sparkled with gold dust as she shifted from foot to foot, gazing out into the gardens. The lavender and gold half mask she wore over her eyes was perfect to match her attire. Her rich, chocolate brown hair fell in waves down her shoulders, and little wisps of it framed her face. I heard her sigh, and turn towards me. Then she gasped.

(Yuki's point of view)

I looked out into the starry sky, and remembered the look of pure joy on Kyouya's face as he twirled me through the air. And then when I gave him the check, the look of shock made me want to laugh hysterically. _Was it worth it ? __Yeah. __You might want to get back to the ball before the boys get themselves into trouble. __Probably…_ and I gasped as I saw a shadowy figure blocking the threshold.

Standing in the door way was a handsome man clad in black and silver. His matching half mask was held to his head with a silver ribbon, which made his coal black eyes shine in the darkness. Looking completely astounded, he stepped forward onto the balcony with me. I stood there frozen, until he whispered my name softly in a familiar velvety voice. "Kyouya?" I asked, surprised that I loved the way he uttered my name. He nodded, and leaned onto the balcony rails like I had been doing only a moment before. I followed suit, and looked up at the stars and the moon. "Isn't it beautiful out here tonight?" I asked him. He nodded and mumbled something. "What?" I asked, not hearing what he had just said. "I said that you look beautiful out here tonight." Completely caught off guard, I blushed up a storm. _He has never said that to me before. Ever. _He continued to look out into the gardens.

"Thanks, Kyouya. It means a lot to hear you say that. You look very nice tonight as well." I could have sworn that he blushed too. Then I heard him ask "Why would you do that for me, Yuki?" "Do what?" He turned to look at me, and drew himself to his full height. "Why would you sell the locket for me?" I gasped, mind racing. "I wanted to make you happy. And it is obvious that you having the company would make you happy." I went to grab for the missing locket, but pulled my hand down quickly. "Is my happiness that important to you, Yuki?" Nodding, I twirled a finger through my hair.

I felt his breath behind my ear, but I didn't freeze up. "Yuki, I have something for you. I want you to be happy too. Pull your hair up." He commanded. I did as I was told for once and felt his slender fingers wrap around my neck. There was a familiar clinking sound, and a weight fell onto my neck.

Impulsively, I reached for it, and there it was. My locket. I held it in my shaking hands, and turned to Kyouya. "How?" I asked, about to burst with delight. "My sister got it as a gift from her boyfriend, and saw the picture of you and your family still inside. I… have told her about you, so she thought that that was what you would look like."

I reached out and touched his bruised cheek, but as I went to pull back, he put his hand over mine. "Yuki, your happiness means the world to me." Kyouya said, and I felt a tingle go up my spine. He let go of my hand. Gently, Kyouya removed the mask from my face. I in turn removed his mask, and put it on the balcony. In the moonlight, his features glowed with a soft white light. "I have to tell you something." Kyouya said.

With both hands, he cupped my face and tilted it up so I was looking straight into his eyes. There was such emotion in those eyes, I began to tremble. "Yuki, I think…I think I am in love with you." He said, and his lips came in contact with mine. I froze in shock and closed my eyes, barely even realizing what was happening. _Love?_

He removed his hands from my face, and a look of heartrending misery spread across his heavenly face. "I'm sorry. It seems like you don't feel the same way…" Kyouya moved away from me, and grabbed his mask from the balcony. As he turned to leave, I grabbed his arm and turned him towards me. "Don't go, Kyouya." But he wouldn't look at me. "Kyo-kun, look at me. Please…" He looked surprised to hear my mind's nickname for him, and looked at me again.

Not realizing what I was doing, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him towards me, and kissed him. I closed my eyes, and savored his sweet orange taste. Kyouya wrapped an arm around my waist, and cradled my head with the other. My knees buckled underneath me, and he pulled me in closer, deepening the kiss. His lips were soft and warm, molding against my own as if they were made to be together. I felt fingers combing through my long hair. _Wow… I can't believe I'm thinking this, but I'm glad that the twins convinced me to wear my hair down._

Finally, our lips parted and I looked up at him. "You need to stop apologizing all of the time. There are some things that you can't control." He smirked and said "Well, does this mean that you love me too?" I was too reluctant to step out of his arms to give him a smack in the head, so I just gave him a kiss on the nose instead. "Of course it does, you idiot."

I reached down to grab the locket, and opened it up to look at the single picture inside. As expected, on the left side was the picture of Suki, Mari, Kuronosuke and me. What I didn't expect was the fact that on the right side, there was a picture of all of my friends at the host club. It was from when we were on out mountain get-away. Hunny and Mori were down at front, still as inseparable as ever. Kaoru and Hikaru were kissing Haruhi on the cheeks, and she was laughing her head off. I had wrapped my arms around Tamaki and Kyouya's necks, pulling their faces down next to mine. Tamaki had his boyish grin on, smiling at the camera. Kyouya had on the smile that put angels to shame, but he wasn't looking at the camera. He was staring right at me.

Just like he was staring at me now. As happy as I had ever seen him. And that was because of me. "Hope you like the picture I slipped into the other side. I didn't like the fact that you didn't have your other family in there too."

_My other family. Hmm, that sounds about right. Suki, I hope you like my other family too. It was your idea to make the half-empty locket whole, wasn't it? __Of course it was her idea. I wish I had been her conscience. Hmm, she was much more sensible than you. Now you and lover boy go back to the party, deary._


	10. ANAnd a little more!

**AN: Okay, I was feeling in a writing sort of mood when I decided to go back and read this fanfic. Honestly, it is one of the worst things I've read in my entire life. I've decided that the whole story is going to be over-hauled before I even consider doing a sequel. Yeah, I know I said that I would be revising it on my profile, but I now realize that the story just needs to be redone. The romance bit just started coming out in the last couple chapters. The story is way too short to establish any sort of relationship. I am ashamed of myself and my lack of endurance and patience. I'm in my senior year of high school, for Christ's sake, and this was the best I could do? "The Half-Empty Locket" deserves to be so much more than the half-baked story that I published on this site.**

**This is a little snippet of an idea that I've added. This should better characterize Yuki and her barely mentioned trauma. Here is an excerpt from the new chapter 2:**

With that embarrassing thought, I headed down the corridor –it was much too large to be called a hallway—and opened the last door. The room was the same size as mine, but decorated completely differently. The walls had originally been white before murals of anything and everything in nature were painted on them. Depictions of plants, animals, and landscapes were scattered willy-nilly around, yet all of it seemed to work. The furniture was the same; all plain to begin with, but easily changed to fit the designer's mood. A loft bed allowed for the most floor space for painting and kept it from getting covered in artistic materials. Hanging from the ceiling was one of those egg-shaped chairs with a modification that allowed it to be pulled up and out of the way. Sunlight poured in through the large windows that had a view to the garden. I opened them to let in the delicious breeze. "So," I said to the air, "I should probably tell you about my first day of school."

After the accident, sensei had wanted to get rid of everything in the room because it was too painful a reminder to his wife and my older sister, Fukiko. I would not allow it, so everything remained the same as before. I kept Tsuki's bedroom and adjacent art studio clean without the assistance of the household staff. I didn't dare allow them in for fear of them throwing something out.

Unlike Fukiko and sensei, I didn't pray for my sister in the conventional way. They always showed up at the official shrine downstairs dressed to the nines and put fresh incense up while they prayed for her wellbeing in the afterlife. To me, it was sort of impersonal. I showed up to her actual room at least once a day, but never at a particular time. Sometimes, I would come in after a grueling workout and piss off Tsuki's spirit by letting sweat go all over the place. At night, I would sneak in in my pajamas with hot chocolate in hand to taunt her with. They probably had hot cocoa in Heaven, but I made it best.


End file.
